Roland and Nina Smith currently live in laie, Hawaii where they are serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors’ Center. They have eight children (six living), all away from home. They have twenty-two grandchildren.
Roland retired from the Idaho National Laboratory in the High Performance Computing arena in September, 2014. We submitted our mission application and sold our house in Pocatello, Idaho. We then took a five-month Great American Drive-Around in our small motorhome to visit with family and friends before reporting the the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah on March 8, 2015. We will serve until February 2017 and have no firm plans after that.
Sometimes Roland can be found on the air (ham radio callsign K7OJL), building websites, and catching up on things around the house. Roland’s hobbies include amateur radio, genealogy, photography, travel (particularly international travel), and anything to do with computers.
Nina is a full-time homemaker. She also enjoys genealogy, origami, photography, travel, and collecting. She has numerous collections, including medicine bottles, kokeshi dolls, Pez dispensers, Stangl pottery, keys, and occupied Japan figurines.
Roland was born in Utah and raised in Soda Springs, Idaho. Following graduation from High School, he enlisted in the US Air Force and became a Chinese linguist and part of the United States Air Force Security Service (USAFSS). Nina and Roland were married June 12, 1964, and moved immediately to San Angelo Texas. That was followed by a 42 month stay in Japan interspersed with a number of temporary duty assignments for Roland in Viet Nam.
Nina was born in Connecticut and grew up primarily in New Jersey and Connecticut. She married Roland the day she completed High School and then accompanied him to Japan.
The family has lived in Texas, Japan, Indiana, Ohio, Germany, Utah, a second time in Japan, a few months in California, Colorado Springs, and now Pocatello, Idaho. They own a small motorhome and enjoy camping, particularly in state and national parks. They also have discovered cruise vacations and generally take at least one ocean or river cruise each year (that is, until I retired and we went on this mission). They are actively involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).
Sounds like you have a great life.
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Uh oh Grandpa – time to update!! 5 of your kids are married!! 🙂 Miss you loads – wish I didn’t have to work so I could come spend Thanksgiving with you.
xoxox
Stephanie
Thank you so much for these plans online. I recently had knee surgery and the doctor recommended that this is how I garden. I was concerned with how my husband was going to build the raised beds, so thanks for sharing. I’m only mid-40’s but my doctor said from young to old that this is how orthopedic surgeons garden because they see what the squatting and kneeling does to knees over a lifetime.
Chinese linguist? Impressive!
Hi Roland.
I guess that we are related. My Grandmother Mary Smith Anderson of Bear River City was a daughter of Nathan Smith Jr. How is it that you fit into this line?
You mentioned in some records that you published that I got through a cousin that many geneology records of the family were destroyed. I would be very happy to share whatever I have and would be happy for any journals or photos that you may have from that branch of my family. For example I have an original photo taken in about 1875 in Denmark of the Rasmus Hansen family, of which Hannah Hansen Smith was a member, and also a photo that appears to be an original taken on the wedding day of Nathan Smith and Hannah Hansen Smith.
A little about me: I live in West Haven Utah with my wife and three of my four children. One daughter is married. I served a mission in Japan from 1980-1982. My wife is Japanese, and we returned to Japan for an additional six years after we were married. My family ownes Mineral Resources International, a company that extracts minerals from Utah’s Great Salt Lake, mostely for human nutrition. I am our International Marketing director, so I also enjoy travel, mostely throughout Asia including many trips to China. It may be interesting to meet sometime.
Sincerely
Matthew Anderson
I hope you don’t mind, I “Pinned” your photo of the old phone booth on Pinterest, it was really well done, I gave you credit:) I miss phone booths.
Dear Roland Smith family–
I saw your postings about William P Smith. He was my great-great-grandfather, and I am a descendant of his son Nathan Smith Sr and his son William Smith. John Walker Smith was my grandfather, and Dell Walker Smith was my father. There’s lots of information available on the web about William P. Smith’s life, and the settlement of Clifton, Cleveland and Treasureton by his children.
Best wishes, Kim Smith, Eugene, Oregon