I am trying to find further information or even make contact with my Dad's ½ brother Rodney Smith who would be my Uncle. The info that I currently have is that Rodney was born 28 April 1940 in Oldham (possibly Leaver Street) baptised 19 May 1940 at Holy Trinity, Coldhurst (where my Grandad Robert/Bob married his 1st wife Ivy Greenhalgh the daughter of William Ewart Greenahlgh in 1939). My Grandad went off to do his bit in WWII and after the War but before 1950 he and his 1st wife were divorced. There is a possibility that the family relocated to the US. This message has also been posted on another (subscription) site - not mentioning any names. If anybody knows/knew the family at this time or even now I would be pleased to hear from you.

Regards

Darren Smith

It is a possibility that I have now discovered Rodney but if my assumptions are correct then it will unfortunately be too late because he was tragically killed this year (25 May 2007) in Menlo Park, California, USA.

Darren

My dad & I have attempted to contact Rodney's widow but to date haven't received a reply. Below is a synopsis of Rodney's life that I have pieced together:

Rodney was born 28th April 1940 at Oldham Municipal Hospital, Rochdale Road, Oldham. He was the son of Robert "Bob" Smith & Ivy Greenhalgh.

In 1956, Rodney joined the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) as a boy apprentice and commenced his training at the Army Apprentices School, Arborfield Garrison, Berkshire. He eventually became an A/T Sergeant in ‘A’ Company. He studied for and obtained his ONC in Electrical Engineering from Reading Technical College and later in 1963, he was awarded an Engineering degree from Southampton College of Advanced Technology. He must have left the army after completing 9 years service.

Rodney’s professional career began in 1966 at the General Electric Corporation in New York State. When GE closed its Integrated Circuit (IC) business in 1969 he moved to the Silicon Valley based Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation (“Fairchild”) where he was to spend the next 13 years. It was here that he accelerated and held various management positions from those of Engineering Manager to that of General Manager and Vice President of the Linear Division.

He joined the startup programmable-logic company Altera in November 1983 as Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer at a time when programmable logic was emerging as a business and nearly a dozen rival companies were competing for market leadership. He also pioneered the fabless business model, which is now used worldwide as the standard throughout the electronics industry. In 2000, he stepped down as president and CEO but remained on as Chairman of the Board.

He finally retired in May 2003 to his beloved collection of vintage racecars, which he raced locally at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey (of which he was an ardent supporter & member of the board), Infineon Raceway, Sonoma and at Donington, Silverstone, Oulton Park, Goodwood and Brooklands in the UK.

Rodney, along with his wife Mary were long-standing philanthropists in the area. Some of their philanthropic activities have included:

1996 - The funding of the publishing in book format of a collection of 31 colour landscapes “California - in Solitude and Silence” by Portola Valley artist and resident Jane Gallagher
1999 - Hosting a 56B reunion to celebrate 40 years of leaving boys’ school
2000 - A $1m gift to the Portola Valley Open Space Acquisition Fund
2001/02 - A donation to the Community Foundation Silicon Valley (CFSV)
2003 - The financing of the production of the book ‘The Arborfield Apprentice’ authored by Pete Gripton. Which is an illustrated history of the Arborfield Army Apprentices' School and Colleges where soldier tradesmen were trained from 1939 to 2003
2006 - Funding the 50th anniversary Arborfield ‘Old-Boys’ reunion
April 2006/March 2007 – A $1000.00+ donation to the Committee for Green Foothhills (CGF) Millennium Fund

Other beneficiaries of the Smith’s generosity include the Hidden Villa farm and wilderness preserve in Los Altos, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and Habitat for humanity.

The Smith’s were also proactive in efforts to rid the town’s roads of litter. Mary as well being a member of the Council’s Traffic Committee also chaired the ad-hoc Anti-Litter Committee because according to a report published by the Almanac (1 March 2000) she is described as “Portola Valley’s chief anti-litter crusader”. For 5 years they have organised and conducted twice yearly ‘clean-up’ campaigns along Sand Hill Road/Portola Road where milk & cookies were provided for the volunteers. They also arranged for “No littering” signs to erected at entry points to the town.

Rodney died on Friday May 25, 2007 of Multiple traumatic injuries resultant of his involvement in a Road Traffic Accident at Sand Hill Road (between Whiskey Hill Road and the Interstate 280 Interchange), Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California, USA. He was struck by a geen Volvo (also travelling eastbound) at approximately 09:40hrs and subsequently died at the scene at approximately 10:05hrs (Pacific Daylight Time - PDT).

Darren

Hi Darren,

Well my goodness, you have managed to put together a wonderful resume there about your uncle Rodney Smith, and his achievements. I think that he more than qualifies to be featured on our "Notable Smiths" Calendar, for some future month. Please will you let me know if that would be acceptable to you and if you have a photograph of him?

Thank you very much for sharing all that information Darren and lets keep our fingers crossed that you are able to contact his widow some time soon.

Please continue to keep us informed, Darren, this is very interesting!!

Bye for now