Introduction
EARL A. SMITH SR. was born on April 28, 1921. One of at least 9 children born to Catherine and Spencer H. Smith Sr. The elder Smith had a long and distinguished career as a Camden Fire Fighter beginning in 1914. Spencer F. Smith Sr. joined the Camden Fire Department on May 1, 1914, and was assigned to the number 1 engine company at 407–409 Pine Street in South Camden. At the time of the 1920 census, Spencer and Catherine Smith were renting a home at 1017 Atlantic Avenue in Camden. By this time, the family included eight children, Addie, Annie, Carl, Marion, Clara, Spencer Jr., Walter, and Robert. Later that year Spencer Smith Sr. was assigned to Engine Company Number 10 at 9th Street and Morgan Boulevard in the Fairview section of Camden. The family would move to Fairview soon afterwards.
After serving with the United States Navy during World War II, Earl Smith joined the Camden Fire Department around 1950, about the same time that his father retired, having met the then-new mandatory retirement age of 65. Brother Spencer Smith Jr. had joined the force a few years earlier; he would retire after serving 29 years. Sadly, this would not be the case for Earl Smith.
On April 7, 1968 Fire Fighter Earl A. Smith suffered a fatal heart attack at the Engine Company 3 station house at 1813 Ferry Avenue after his unit had returned from extinguishing a fire.
Earl Smith had last lived at 240 Eutaw Avenue in East Camden. He was survived by his wife Fayetta, sons Earl A. Jr., Carl W., Warren H., Larry F., and Wayne E.; and two daughters, Fayetta M. and Karen S. Smith.
Earl Smith’s older brother Spencer H. Smith Jr. retired from the Camden Fire Department after 29 years service. After working for the City of Camden for many years in the Department of Weights and Measures, Earl Smith’s son Larry F. Smith would join the Camden Fire Department. Nephew Spencer Smith III served with the Camden Police Department for 33 years before retiring in 1995. As of this writing, in January of 2016, the Smith family has been serving Camden continuously for 112 consecutive years.
37 Camden Men Pass Tests for City Firemen
Camden Courier-Post —
Thirty-seven candidates have passed the Civil Service test for fireman in the Camden City fire department. Thirty-two of those who qualified are former service men and three of them, disabled veterans, were placed at the top of the list under the preference given by law.
Joseph T. Hackett, of 158 Branch Village, is listed first, Owen D. Gale, 320 Marlton avenue, second and August L. Johnson, 916½ Chestnut street, third.
The salary on Jan. 1 will begin at $2400 and reach a maximum of $3160 after four years.
Following is the complete list of those who qualified in the test:
Joseph T. Hackett, 158 Branch Village; Owen D. Gale, 320 Marlton avenue; August L. Johnson, 916 Chestnut street; Harry Sterling, 112 Ablett Village; Albert A. Stinger, 1423 Bradley avenue; Jesthroe Hunt, 753 Walnut street; Harold H. Pike, 429 Penn street; Roy R. Moffa, 216 Morse street; Allen F. Hess, 2733 Sherman avenue; Franklin W. Whylings, 602 North Thirty-second street; William L. Gosnell, 3303 Crescent drive; David W. Humphries, 3017 Mickle street; William G. Winstanley, 510 Penn street; Joshua H. Robinson, 1934 Kossuth street; Henry S. Keubler, 936 Broadway; Adolph S. Zubrzycki, 1223 South Tenth street; Ralph H. Palmer, 585 Mickle street; Alexander P. Matis, 903 Haddon avenue; Earl G. Robinson, 1036 Penn street; Anthony J. DiMaggio, 530 South Eighth street; Earl A. Smith Sr., 201 Biedeman avenue; Philip J. MacDonald, 123 North Eleventh street; Robert P. Olesiewicz, 321 Mt. Vernon street; Eugene E. Demers, 2034 High street; Chester J. Gedrich, 1154 Thurman street; John F. Chudzinski, 1043 Thurman street; Samuel D. Siniscalki, 803 Line street; Santo DiMaggio, 319 Beckett street; Ludwig Polniak, 471 Pfeiffer street; George P. Baxter, 817 Howard street; Ralph F. Schaffer, Canterbury apartments; Joseph J. McTaggart, 3135 Waldorf avenue; Louis J. Monahan, Canterbury apartments; John DiMaggio, 319 Beckett street; William N. Stone Jr., 950 Vine street; Casper J. Martelli, 220 Mt. Vernon street; and H. Raymond Dixon, 439 Trenton avenue.
Smiths Firemen To 3d Generation
Camden Courier-Post —
By JOSEPH R. McCARTHY
A third generation of the Smith family was sworn into the city’s fire department today.
Following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, Spencer Haines Smith 3d, 22, of 1523 Collings rd., became a fireman. Young Smith also has a firefighting uncle in the city.
HIS FATHER, Spencer H. Smith Jr. of 2965 Merrimac rd. was appointed to the department on Oct. 14, 1942, and has served 24½ years on the force. He is commissioner of The Consolidated Police and Fireman Pension System and chairman of the Pension Board.
Spencer H. Smith Sr., who died four years ago, became a fireman on May 1, 1914, and retired in 1950, after 36 years and four months of service.
EARL A SMITH, an uncle, of 240 Eutaw ave., was appointed to the fire squad on Sept. 30, 1950. In addition, to complete the family’s service to the city, William Smith, the great-grandfather, was a policeman.
The new appointee was sworn in along with Ernest F. Fagan, 25, of 105 S. 35th st., and Truman F. Maples, 25, of 1024 N. 35th st. The three will attend Fire School at 9th and Morgan sts.
THE MONTH’S schooling will include a week at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where the new firemen will fight actual fires with the Yard’s Fire and Disaster Control Center.
Heart Seizure Kills Fireman
Camden Courier-Post —
Earl A. Smith Sr., 46, of 240 Eutaw Ave., Camden, an 18-year employee of the Camden Fire Department, died yesterday in Cooper Hospital of a heart attack.
A Navy veteran of World War II, Mr. Smith was a member of the Firemen’s Benevolent Association.
Survivors include his wife, Fayetta M.; two daughters, Fayetta M. and Karen S., at home; five sons, Earl A. Jr., Carl W., Warren H., Larry F. and Wayne E., all at home; one grandchild; three brothers and three sisters.
Services will be Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Jules J. Schaffhauser Funeral Home, 983 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, where friends may call Wednesday night. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Camden.
Personnel Record
Earl A. Smith Sr. Camden Fire Department personnel record card