Elizabeth Blanche Pelt and Charles H. Smith

     Charles H. Smith is the son of Sam Houston Smith and Allie Mae Thompson. He is married to Elizabeth Blanche Pelt who is a Mumme descendant. Elizabeth is the daughter of Naomi Theodora Betz who was the daughter of Bertha Tanner Mumme. Click here to visit the Mumme Website.

      Charles was born in Mangum, Oklahoma, June 10, 1930. He grew up in Mangum and attended public schools until graduating high school in 1948. His 50th class reunion was held in 1998, and while he was unable to attend because of cataract surgery, he detailed the reunion in a special website. Click here to see his class of 1948 website.

     Charles attended East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma during his freshman year of college. He transferred to the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma during his sophomore year.

     He was a member of the 45th Division of the Oklahoma National Guard. His division was mobilized at the start of the Korean War and he was first stationed at Camp Polk, Louisiana. After basic training, his unit was transferred to Hokkaido, Japan where they served as Occupation Troops - releasing regular army groups for duty in Korea. His enlistment ended while he was still in Japan and he was shipped back to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be discharged while his unit moved on to Korea.

     After his discharge from the service, Charles moved to San Antonio, Texas to live with his sister, Patsy, while he looked for employement. He was employed as a Business Analyst by Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. in 1951.

     Elizabeth was born in nearby Lawton, Oklahoma, November 28, 1933. Elizabeth's family moved to South Texas when she was a small child, and her family lived in Alfred and San Diego, Texas until moving to Corpus Christi during the 1940's where she finished high school in 1951.

      All sides of Elizabeth's family are German, Flemish or Dutch. Charles' family is mostly English, Scottish and Irish, however, the Smith side is actually German. The original Smith immigrant was Adam Smidt who came to America in the early 1800's from Berlin.

      Charles and Elizabeth met each other at work. Both were employed by Dun & Bradstreet in San Antonio, Texas. Charles was employed by D&B for 35 years, and during this time, the family lived in a number of locations as the result of his being transferred.

      The Smith's lived in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Dallas, Lubbock, Amarillo, Odessa, again in Dallas, then in Hurst, Texas. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1967 and to Wilmington, Delaware in 1975. In 1979, they moved to New Jersey where they lived until Charles accepted an early retirement in 1988. They moved to Atlanta and started to work for the Days Inn Corporation. Then they were the Executive Directors for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in Atlanta. For several years, they operated The Gemini System, Inc., a database consulting firm for the hotel industry. They moved to Bayonne, NJ in 1996 to live with their youngest daughter.

      Charles and Elizabeth have four children:

1. Stephen Michael Smith - Born Dec 18, 1951 - San Antonio, Texas
2. Gary Charles Smith - Born Dec 1, 1953 - San Antonio, Texas
3. Lori Sue Smith - Born Jul 20, 1956 - Lubbock, Texas
4. Jill Anne Smith - Born Sep 15, 1966 - Fort Worth, Texas

Source(s): Charles H. Smith and Patsy V. Smith Cox