Virgil Smith

Virgil William Smith was born April 2, 1924 in Mulkeytown, Illinois. Virgil's father died when he was about 10 years old. His mother later remarried. Virgil joined the Army when he was only 15 years old, having his mother sign for him. After the war started, he was sent to England and prepared for the Normandy invasion. He was with the second wave of the invasion and made his way all across Europe with the Allied forces.

After the war, Virgil tried different occupations. He was a radio announcer in many different cities and also worked as a TV announcer for a station in Twin Falls, Idaho. He eventually began working as a newspaper reporter. The last job he had was for the St. Paul Pioneer Press as an editor.

Virgil married Jane on October 9, 1971. Following their marriage, the couple lived on the St. Croix River. Jane died suddenly March, 1976 and a short time later Virgil retired and made a trip to Sri Lanka, which is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He made many friends there including a prominent resident who owned a Copra boat, which is used to go to the different islands to collect the dried coconut meat from which coconut oil is made. He and the ships captain became friends and he stayed on the ship for a couple of months.

After returning to the United States he tried his hand at many different things, including a hometown newspaper in Marine on the St. Croix. He and couple of friends bought a radio station in Sisseton, South Dakota, which they ran for a short time. He then went to Fergus Falls for a short time and then on to Benson, Minnesota before making his way to Starbuck in 1988. Wherever Virgil went, he soon had many friends about him. Starbuck wasn't any different. Before long it seemed like he knew everyone.

Over the years he acquired his private pilot license and owned different airplanes and made many trips about the country. He also raced cars and was the senior driver at Alexandria, where he raced many evenings with the crew from Star Motor Company here in Starbuck. He loved to ride motorcycles and could be seen around town on most any summer day. When working at the Pioneer Press, he lived a couple of years on a house boat located on the St. Croix River, even in the winter.

Virgil lived a life full of adventure. Many of us would like to be able to pursue our adventures, Virgil would live them and all of us enjoyed hearing of them. He had many harrowing experiences, but always came through them including crashing an ultra-lite aircraft into high-line wires and crashing with his motorcycle and even crashes with his race car. All of us, who knew him, loved him and will cherish our memory of him.

Virgil was preceded in death by his wife, Jane; his parents: Arthur and Dorothy Smith and brother, Lyle "Dugan" Smith.

Survivors include his step-children: Jessica Summers, H. Robert (Heidi) Summers, David (Sue) Summers and Christopher (Corrine) Summers and their families. Also included are special friends: Bob and Sandy Johnsrud, Jon Blocker, Jack, Norma and Mike Mills,Earl and LaVerle Spurgeon of Carthage, TX as well as many other close friends.

Honorary pallbearers are all who called Virgil friend. Monica Gosseling will serve as organist for the service. Starbuck Funeral Home in Starbuck is in charge of the arrangements.