Frank A. “Red” Smith, Jr., 87, a lifelong resident of Haverhill’s Rocks Village, passed away January 5, 2012 at the Merrimack Valley Hospice House in Haverhill, after a brief period of declining health.Red was born in Haverhill on March 4, 1924 to Frank A. Sr. and Frances E. (Follett) Smith. He attended Haverhill public schools, graduating from Haverhill High School in 1941. During World War II, he worked at the Portsmouth Navy Yard before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943, where he attained the rank of Sergeant and was a hydraulic systems specialist for B-25s and other bombers.After the war, he joined the Haverhill Fire Department, and served with his father in the city’s fire alarm headquarters. He retired after 33 years in 1979, as Deputy Chief/Superintendent of Fire Alarms. He then worked for the L.W. Bills Company in Georgetown for 23 years, testing fire alarms systems throughout eastern Massachusetts until 2003. He was a member of the International Municipal Signal Association and the Haverhill Firefighters Relief Association.He enjoyed traveling, golfing, hunting, fishing, skiing and making improvements to the family home in Rocks Village, where his favorite pastime was watching boaters and wildlife on the Merrimack River.Red was predeceased by his brother Earl F. “Bud” of Haverhill. He is survived by his wife Annette, his children: Gregory A. Smith of Concord, NH, Audrey J. Lehane and her husband Charles of Amherst, MA, Dianne M. Smith of Brookfield, NH, and David A. Smith and his wife Tina of Merrimac, MA. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Amy Lehane of Easthampton, MA, Corinne Briggs of Easthampton, MA, Katie Lehane of Putnam Valley, NY, and Skylar Smith and Aidan Smith both of Merrimac, MA, and by three great-grandchildren.Friends and family are respectfully invited to call on Monday, January 9, from 4 until 7 PM at the Kevin B. Comeau Funeral Home, 486 Main St. (Rte 125) Haverhill. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM in the funeral home. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery, East Broadway Haverhill. In lieu of flowers, suggested memorial donations may be made in his name to the Haverhill Firefighting Museum, C/O Haverhill Fire Dept. Credit Union, 75 Kenoza Ave. Haverhill, MA 01830.
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