Dr. Silas Raynor Smith was born June 14, 1918, in Harvard, Illinois. He grew up in India, where his parents were missionaries with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He returned to Oregon when he was 13 years old and graduated from high school in 1935. Smith received his B.A from Willamette University in 1939 and his Master of Divinity from Boston University in 1942. In 1943 Smith became a Chaplain with the U.S. Army in Germany for two years. Smith the received his Ph.D. in 1955 from the University of Southern, California, where he also served as a Methodist minister. Smith returned to the Northwest, continuing his ministry with churches in Centralia, Tacoma, Bothell, Spokane, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho. Smith and his wife, Gay, moved to Astoria, Oregon, in 1974. After Smith retired from the Methodist Church, he continued for another 20 years as the minister of the Community Congregational Church in Astoria. Smith also served as the Oregon State Chaplain for the American Legion and the “40 et 8” Honorary Society for more than 20 years, also being named an Honorary Department Commander. Smith moved to Boise, Idaho in 1999, and lived at Valley View Retirement Community, where he enjoyed his apartment, friends, church, and family. He died at a private care home in Meridian, ID in 2007.