Denny Smith

I missed graduation because my father and I went to southern Alberta, Canada to take over a farm that we purchased. That enterprise failed because the owner renigged on the price. I went to Montana and lumberjacked for a year. Then, in 1970, I married Janice (Jo) and enlisted in the Navy
My lottery number was 54 and Jo sent me my draft notice when I was in boot camp. 12 years later I left the Navy after operating and supervising Nuclear Reactor plants and supervising Radioactive Controls on a submarine tender. I moved my family to Florida and took a job at Kennedy Space Center in 1983. I worked on the Hubble Space Telescope and other Orbiter payloads. In 1994, I left McDonnell Douglas and started a business splicing and rebuilding Time Warner cable TV systems in Florida. I am retired now and have published 2 novels. I sent 6 of my 7 children on full time missions for the LDS church. I love music and sang in the Granite High madrigals and the first organization of the Mormon Youth Tabernacle Choir.

I thought of an interesting story about my time at Granite. I was working with Eldon Barrows, a 1968 cheerleader, learning cheers but especially developing gymnastic skills. With his help I had learned to do a roundoff to a backward handspring and I was working on a back flip. The day before the tryout assembly, I was practicing the roundoff to a backward handspring in my back yard, and the wind caught me and I came straight down in a twisting motion and did a spiral fracture on my middle finger in my hand. I came to school with a cast on and Eldon gasped at me in horror. "What are you doing?" he asked. "I broke my hand", I replied. "You can't do this!" he exclaimed. "I can't do what!" I asked in amazement. "Did you really break it?" "Yes, I really broke it". "This is not good, Denny". "Last year Jack put a cast on his hand with no real injury to get sympathy votes. Someone found out what he did and the story went all over the school. People will think you're doing what he did". I wasn't able to show the student body the things I could do and didn't get elected. I wasn't bitter because I couldn't really blame people after what Jack did. But I know I was by far the best gymnast who tried out and I lost the opportunity because of an "act of God". My tryout cheer was going to include a full back flip, (if I could get up the nerve), and two roundoffs to backward handsprings. It would have been very impressive. I felt that I was a "shoe in" until I practiced too long, got tired, and violated good safety practices. I remember it in a kind of humorous way. Many times in my life, God has directed my path by putting large tripping stones in my way. I have often marveled that he would take such interest in me; but I am humbled by it and feel a deep sense of gratitude for the care God has shown to me and my family. My wife Jo literally gave her life to bring children into the world, (I mean specialist doctors told her that she wouldn't survive if she tried to save the baby;and she chose to die rather than destroy a fetus. She survived six such pregnancies and we ended up with 7 live children-though one of them was badly dislexic and one was a premie born 3 months early). Oops; I'm starting to sound preachy. That was not my intention. I've really enjoyed reading your profiles and hope some of you will communicate with me.