Frederick “Dale” Smith. Jr. died in Charlottesville, Virginia on December 2 after a short illness. He was 92. Dale passed away surrounded by Joyce Smith, his wife of 71 years, and his children Jan Smith, Jeanne Smith Henifin and Rob Smith.

Dale was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was also an exemplary Naval aviator and logistician. Born near Wichita Kansas in 1931, Dale attended the University of Missouri in Columbia on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He graduated, was commissioned as an ensign and married the love of his life, Joyce Bozarth, all on the same memorable day – June 7, 1953. In addition to locations for his flight training, Dale’s naval career took him and Joyce, and later their children, on assignments in the Washington, DC area; Rhode Island (where Dale was Executive Officer of the Navy Air Rework Facility at Quonset Point), Virginia (where he commanded a helicopter squadron in Norfolk and flew patrol aircraft from Chincoteague); Florida; California and the United Kingdom, where Dale earned a graduate degree at the then Cranfield Institute of Technology. Overseas deployments took him to Norway, Malta and other countries.

After retiring from the Navy, Dale earned a second Master’s Degree at George Washington University and worked as a master logistician for U.S. Navy and international aircraft programs in companies including Farnsworth Cannon, Augusta Bell and CACI. As hobbies and interests, Dale tinkered with foreign cars, loved hunting and camping, and led a Boy Scout Troop. The cabin he and Joyce owned in Wintergreen, Virginia, was a special place for him. He was also a gifted woodworker. Dale was very well read, with a perpetual curiosity and an encyclopedic memory. His children said they never needed to look anything up; they simply asked Dale. Friends and family enjoyed his many entertaining and colorful stories of his life and career.

Dale and Joyce lived in Alexandia, Virginia for 53 years before moving to Charlottesville in 2024. They were long time, active members of Bush Hill Presbyterian Church in Alexandia and also members of Rockfish Presbyterian Church near Nellysford, Virginia.

In addition to his wife and children, Dale is survived by his sister, Judy Gamble; daughter-in-law Crystal Steger Smith; son-in-law David Henifin; granddaughters Elisabeth Francis (wife of Christopher Francis), Catherine Henderson Henifin (wife to Caleb Henderson) and Anna Smith; and great-granddaughters Freyja Francis, and Huntleigh and Dylan Henderson. The family is grateful to the compassionate care given Dale in the end by the staff at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital.

For more on services and to share your condolences, visit Hill and Wood Funeral Service.