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- [S5] Ohio Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-1944 and 1958-2002.
Name: Ralph William Smithberger
Birth Date: 8 Nov 1917
Birth County: Clark
Birth State: Ohio
Birth Country: United States
Gender: Male
Race: White
Hispanic Origin: Not Hispanic (Latino)
Residence City: Columbus
Residence County: Franklin
Residence state: Ohio
Residence Zip Code: 43215
Residence Country: United States
Death Date: 26 Sep 2002
Death Time: 08:35 PM
Hospital of Death: Long-Term Care Facilities
City of Death: Columbus
County of Death: Franklin
Certificate: 080454
Age at Death: 84
Registrar's Certificate Number: 07531
Certifier: Physician
Referred to Coroner: Not Referred to Coroner
Autopsy: No Autopsy performed
Method of Disposition: Burial
Filing Date: 2 Oct 2002
Hospital Status: Other/Nursing Home
Social Security Number: 280-10-4879
Father's Surname: Smithberger
Mother's Maiden Name: Arnold
Marital Status: Divorced
Education: 2 years college
Armed Forces Indicator: Yes
Branch of Service: Army Air Corp
Census Tract: 4300
Primary Registration District: 2501
- [S927] Obituary.
COLUMBUS - Ralph Smithberger, 84, of Columbus died Thursday (Sept. 26, 2002). He was born Nov. 8, 1917, in Bethel Township, Monroe County, to Clemens Paul and Elizabeth Theresa Arnold Smithberger. He graduated from Bethel Township High School in Monroe County in 1935, and attended Marietta Business College.
He enlisted July 2, 1941, in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Patterson Field in Dayton, and served for five years, including one year overseas during World War II in aerial combat as a second lieutenant and B-17 navigator in the U.S. 8th Air Force, 95th Bomb Group, 334 Squadron, Horsham, England. He was shot down by German FW-190s on his fifth bombing run to Leipzig, Germany, and crash landed on May 29, 1944, near Wittenberg, Germany. He was imprisoned for eight months in Stalag Luft III at Sagan, and in Stalag 7A at Moosburg and liberated by troops of the 3rd Army, 14th Armored Division, under the command of Gen. George S. Patton on April 29, 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart and European African Middle Eastern Campaign medals. He served in the Air Force Reserves from November 1945 to May 1949, and Ohio National Guard from May 1949 to May 1951, during the Korean War. He was featured in an article in The Columbus Dispatch on April 29, 1995.
He was employed for 40 years with Franklin County Engineering Department, U.S. Veterans Administration and Farm Bureau Cooperative Association.
He was a member of Our Lady of Victory Parish and recipient of the Columbus Diocese Catholic Bishop's Award. He was co-author of "A History of the Smithberger Family in America, 1840-1982," and president of the annual Smithberger reunion for 18 years.
He is survived by his former wife, Lucille Handley Smithberger of Columbus; three daughters, Karen (Daniel) Royer of Columbus, Mary Smithberger of Sacramento, Calif., and Rita (Thomas) Heiby of Upper Arlington; two sons, Joseph (Linda) Smithberger of Pickerington and Thomas (Janis) Smithberger of Falls Church, Va.; one brother, Paul Smithberger of Marion; 10 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Harold Smithberger; one sister-in-law, Melba Blowers Smithberger; and one son-in-law, Donald Barringer.A funeral Mass was celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Victory Church. Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery in Columbus. Egan-Ryan Funeral Home, 403 E. Broad St., Columbus, handled the arrangements.
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1917 - 2002 (84 years)