My Hero, Ira Smith

I am a lucky man to know Ira, he is not your prototypical hero, nor is he likely a Byronic Hero. I do know the Ira I know now, has integrity and a kind heart, a heart that has endured loss and pain unlike most stories one encounters. His sensibilities come from a time and place no one of our age can readily understand. His personality was forged under self-denial, rooted soundly in the soil of his Kistler Valley farm. In some ways that suited him to his brief career in the army, but it certainly was what gave him the stuff to endure his wounds and imprisonment.

Yes, we all have a downside to our personalities, and I'm sure Ira as faults like the rest of us. But I do know the Ira I know now. There’s a sense of wonder about him that is now hard to penetrate, for his age he is still sharp, but reflection beyond the straight forward details are small. He doesn’t wallow. He doesn’t appear to be anything other than a man who has happily endured a life, a man happy without questioning himself. Which is where the mystery of Ira lies: How did he arrive there? We only know some of his journey. Each of us has our own paths to walk.

Please go to my last post from Wednesday.  There you will now find more pictures and Part 2 of Ira's story.  I hope you enjoy.

Ira Smith passed away May 13, 2011 after a short struggle with a broken hip from a fall at his home.  He was 91.