Harold Eugene (“Hal”) Smith - 93
8/30/1916 - 3/24/2010

DeKalb, IL - Harold Eugene (“Hal”) Smith died March 24, 2010, after a brief illness.

He was born in Blair County, Pennsylvania in 1916, on August 30 (according to his mother) or August 31 (according to the doctor’s record). The son of G. Clair and Elda M. (Bossler) Smith, he grew up on a dairy farm, part of a large family whose members have remained close throughout their lives.



Hal graduated from high school at age 15 and entered Juniata College, where he majored in mathematics. After working for a time he enrolled at Penn State where he earned a second bachelors degree in 1940 in agricultural economics and rural sociology. His new interest in sociology led Hal to apply to graduate school; he earned a masters degree in 1941 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (now Virginia Tech) and began doctoral studies at Cornell University. His studies were interrupted by the war and rather than wait to be drafted, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and began training in meteorology at Chanute Air Base in Rantoul, Illinois.



It was at the end of this training that he met Rhea Jeanne Valleau, who had come to visit her brother, also in training at Chanute.

Hal and Rhea corresponded through the war years while Hal was stationed at an air base in Italy, and were married in Rhea’s home community of Saugatuck, Michigan, on October 20, 1945.



Hal finished his doctorate at Cornell and started his university teaching career at the University of Akron in 1947. He later taught at Purdue University for several years and at Mount Union College in Ohio before coming to the Sociology Department at Northern Illinois University in 1957. He served as Acting Chair of the Department for a time and retired in 1984.



During his career at NIU, Hal was awarded three Fulbright Visiting Professorships, the first two to Thailand and the third to the Philippines. His interest in Southeast Asia led to much research on comparative family systems and on medical practices in Southeast Asia, and to a book, Historical and Cultural Dictionary of Thailand, initially published in 1977 and now in a third edition. He maintained ties to Thai colleagues and friends throughout his life and also served as advisor to the Southeast Asian Students organization, mentoring students of whom many became lifelong friends.



After retirement, Hal became the book review editor for Crossroads, the journal of NIU’s Southeast Asia Center, and with his wife, began to travel. Together, Hal and Rhea embarked on a series of trips in the United States and abroad through Elderhostel and other groups. They visited 50 countries by Rhea’s count, sometimes visiting friends who lived abroad. One of their most memorable visits was to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s, where they visited an Afghani engineer who had lived in their household when he was a student at Purdue.



Hal was a member of First Congregational Church in DeKalb and until recent months had been a very active participant.



Hal has left a legacy of conscientiousness, generosity, open-mindedness, humility, and love to his survivors: his wife Rhea, daughter Gayla (Edward) Nieminen, sons Curtis (Sally) Smith and Nicholas

(Nichole) Smith, honorary son Argerios (Denise) Arambadjis and honorary daughter Susan (John) Kirk and grandchildren Margot (Kevin) Sondgeroth, Rachel (Brent) Wheeler, Erica Smith, Magdalena Smith, Evan Smith, Yorgos and Evangalis Arambadjis and Kyle (Brenda) Bothe, as well as great-grandchildren Sarah, Evan and Eli Sondgeroth, Zayd, Gavyn and Azara Wheeler, and Xavier and Lilliana Smith.



The funeral will be held Saturday, March 27, 2010, at 2:00 pm in the Vista Room at Oak Crest, DeKalb, Illinois, with cremation to follow. The viewing is Friday, March 26, 2010 from 5pm-7pm at Ronan-Moore-Finch Funeral Home. Memorial gifts can be made to the First Congregational Church of DeKalb or to the NIU Department of Sociology. To send an online condolence visit: wwwronanmoorefinch.com. Arrangements were entrusted to Ronan-Moore-Finch Funeral Home 310 Oak St. DeKalb, IL 60115 (815) 758-3841.

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