Hard-working welder served in Korean War

DEERFIELD, Mich. - Melvin D. Smotherman, a skilled welder whose craft took him to the Davis-Besse and Fermi nuclear power plants, Toledo's shipyard, and area foundries, died Thursday in his home in Deerfield.

Mr. Smotherman, 77, died of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer attributed to his work, daughter Vanda Stauffer said Sunday.

He learned his trade while in the Air Force, which he joined at age 17 during the Korean War.

As a senior welder, he was stationed at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois and in Newfoundland, repairing aircraft, she said.

"He was a brash young man who was trying to break away from his parents," Mrs. Stauffer said.

He also had a sense of humor, his daughter said.

Mr. Smotherman, known as Smuzz, had a fondness for bestowing nicknames on family members and friends. Mrs. Stauffer said her nickname, Boo Boo, was given at such an early age that "When I was old enough to go to kindergarten, they finally had to tell me what my real name was."

Mr. Smotherman was born Feb. 1, 1933, in Toledo. He attended Scott High School before enlisting in the Air Force.

He never worked for a single employer, but rather received his assignments from the Toledo Area Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 33. He retired in 1988.

"He was extremely proud of the work he did," she said. "He was the hardest-working person I ever knew."

He also taught welding at the former Cotter Apprenticeship School on Hill Avenue.

Mrs. Stauffer said she couldn't recall her father taking a single day off work.

"We never took a family vacation when I was growing up," she said.

Some of his jobs took him out of state, and others allowed him to return to his home in the country and his big yard.

Mrs. Stauffer said her father was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer in January after experiencing difficulty breathing.

Mr. Smotherman is survived by his wife, Marilyn Smotherman, daughters, Veda Zueck, Vanda Stauffer, and Velvet Baker, sisters, Linda Perkins and Pam Decker, nine grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m. today at Reeb Funeral Home, Sylvania, with the funeral there at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

The family suggests tributes to the Special Olympics Ohio chapter in Hilliard.