A Dream Fulfilled Against All Odds: A Memoir

Copyright © 2015 by Harvey Smith, Sr.

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Rev. date: 02/13/2015

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A Dream Fulfilled Against All Odds-A Memoir

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

BRIEF BIO

INTRODUCTION

THE EARLY YEARS

FLASHBACK TO THE BIG EVENT

CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES

ALIQUIPPA

FAMILY

A LETTER FROM MOTHER

A SECOND BRUSH WITH DEATH

SERVICES TO OTHERS

MY ATHLETIC CAREER

8TH GRADE INTRAMURALS

BOLD MOVES

THREE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS OF INFLUENCE:

SCHOOL EXPERIENCES

HIGH SCHOOL: SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS

RACIAL MIX OF STUDENT ACTIVITY ORGANIZATIONS

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

WORK EXPERIENCES

MAJOR EVENTS

PERSONAL

ENTERTAINMENT

LOVE LIFE

GIRL FRIENDS

COURTSHIP

LIFE AT PENN STATE

LETTER FROM MARIAN

BEING SMALL IN SIZE

RELIGION

GRADUATION DAY (MAY 1968)

CONCLUSION

Book

Dedication

This memoir is deducted to the loving memory of my deceased family members: Eugene Smith, Sr. - father; Jannie Mae Smith, mother, Luther Buddy Smith, brother; Alex "Rudy Smith, brother; Shirley Scott, sister.

Gone, but not forgotten.

This memoir is also dedicated to my wife, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, brothers, sisters, and a host of other family members, and the many friends who are mentioned in the memoir.

Other Book By Harvey Smith, Sr.

The Second American Revolution- 2014

Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge several people who played an important role in the writing of this memoir. I would have not been able to complete this book without the great support they gave me including the expression of many encouraging words that helped me to complete this, my second book.

Thank you: Marian Smith, wife; Harvey Smith, Jr., son; Alisa Smith, Daughter; Terry Smith, Son

My Memoir: A Dream Fulfilled Against All Odds.

Brief Bio

I earned a B. S. Degree in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University in 1968, and a M.B.A. Degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973. I have recently successfully completed several writing courses, and have published articles. I have over forty-five years of diversified experience including having served as a Chief Financial Officer and a Chief Executive Officer of several organizations. Currently, I am a college professor where I teach business courses to undergraduate and graduate students worldwide. Over the past 15 years, I have successfully written numerous grant proposals that were approved by government agencies, private corporations, and private foundations. In addition, I now work as a writing analyst of student essays at the university where I work.

Introduction

It was not until late in the year of 2013 that I began to think about my life to try to give meaning to why I existed in the first place. I started to think about my childhood including trying to recall the many good times that I had growing up. Although there were some bad memories which one can expect when growing up in a blue collar town where almost everyone worked in the same company, I know that the good memories far outweigh the bad. It was at that time, in 2013, that I took a look at myself and tried to determine who exactly I was and for what purpose I was born. I spent many days going through this process when I began to realize one fact, one fact that seemed to be the most important event that occurred in my life. The event was so big and significant that it would go on to shape me as a person, physically and mentally. The event made me the child that I was, the teenager that I was, the young adult that I was, the middle aged man that I was, and finally the senior citizen that I am. That event occurred when I was only 5 years old. I will speak of the event later.

I have written this story based on my life experiences as an African American dating from my date of birth in 1943 to 1969 covering a period of my life where I lived in one town, Aliquippa Pennsylvania. Aliquippa is a town that has seen some of its local residents become famous legends and nationally recognized celebrities. The list includes award winning musical director Henry Mancini, Hall of Fame football player and coach, Mike Ditka, and four first round draft picks of the National Football League, Sean Gilbert, Ty Law, Darelle Revis, and Jonathan Baldwin. Another great athlete, Tony Dorsett, an All Pro and Hall of Fame football player, lived in the Mt. Vernon section of Hopewell Township while spending much of his childhood in nearby Aliquippa. In addition, there have been other former residents of Aliquippa who have played football in the NFL. The story will include some discussion of the racial disharmony that existed in the town.

Now, it is time to discuss the key event that occurred in my life. My story will start with me, a 5 year old boy, lying on a medical bed in my doctor’s office regaining consciousness after having been hit by a huge bread truck. My father and three brothers witnessed the accident. Upon seeing the horrific accident, my father rushed to my side and upon seeing the deep cut on my head, severe bleeding, and a lack of breathing on my part, he screamed that I was dead! Was I actually dead for a moment?

The accident stunted my growth as I did not grow one inch nor did I gain one pound for a period of four years. During the four year period, I would make regular visits to the doctor to get vitamin shots in the hope of it stimulating my growth. It did not work.

During the four year period, I experienced several childhood diseases like pneumonia, influenza, the measles, and a number of very sick days. My survival was in question. However, due to my mother’s prayers and God’s will, I gradually started to grow a little by the time I turned ten. Since my father was 6 feet two inches tall, and all of my 3 brothers were much taller than me (I am the fourth oldest), it was clear that the accident caused the growth problem.

Throughout my life, I had the unfortunate experience of being ridiculed and teased as being a runt. However, in addition to saving my life, God gave me an unusual gift and that was, I had very good athletic talent for such a small boy. It was always a great challenge for me to compete against boys who were always much bigger than I was. However, despite my lack of size, I was able to excel in sports first at my elementary school and later as a high school varsity basketball player. I would go on to play one year of college basketball.

This story is based on my ability to reach great heights in athletics despite my size. In addition, the head injury caused some initial learning disabilities which made it hard for me to learn at a normal rate. Academics came very hard for me during my early years. However, through hard work and the special help of some of my teachers, I was able to overcome the learning disabilities to the extent that I became one of the smarter students in our school by my senior year in high school.

I wonder what my life would be like today if I had not been hit by the truck when I was five years old. The injury that I incurred shaped my life as I know it today. The injury stunted my growth for four years from age five to nine. Thus, I have always been smaller than perhaps I would have been if there was no accident. As I stated before, my father was 6 feet 2 inches tall and all of my three older brothers grew to be several inches taller than me. This leads me to believe that I was pre-destined to be several inches taller than I actually am.

The reason I am interested in wondering what life would have been like had I grown to my natural size which might have been six feet instead of 5 feet 7 inches is those few additional inches could have meant the difference in my being just a good athlete versus my becoming a great athlete. God gave me great athletic talent. However, I ended up being very small in stature which was frowned upon in the athletic world.

I was a very good baseball player and basketball player growing up. Even though I played midget league football and tried out for the high school junior high football team, my lack of size made it impossible for me to get the skills needed to attract the interest of the coaches of the football teams. However, my size did not have a negative impact on my ability to make the baseball and basketball teams. This was true for little league and high school teams. However, my baseball career ended after 8th grade when my pony league career ended. It ended by choice as my high school coach, who was my previous 6th grade teacher, had offered me a chance to go out for the high school baseball team when I was in 9th grade. I rejected his offer because I no longer had an interest in playing baseball. My athletic interest shifted to running cross country as a freshman in high school, and my interest in playing basketball continued. Besides, I didn’t like the fact that I would have to stay after school practicing baseball when I could be doing more important things like walking pretty girls home from school.

I had limited success in running cross country and it was a very frustrating experience for me. It was not very much fun running 3 continuous boring, physically demanding miles up and down hills. Therefore, I did not continue it after my freshman year. I was really surprised to see how small I was when I looked at a picture of me with the Aliquippa High School cross country team in my 1959 year book.

Harvey- Front Row- 2nd from left. Arhtur Baldwin- 2nd from right.1959 Yearbook.

My career as a basketball player continued as I was successful in making the roster of the 9th grade junior high team as an 8th grader. This success continued throughout my high school career. I often wondered if I actually grew to six feet tall if I would have been good enough to earn a college basketball scholarship and even to be able to play on the professional level. No one knows the answer to that question.

Major Events

Some of the major events that I will write about include: being born in the middle of World War II and my memory of the Dirty Japs (Japanese soldiers) including the numerous nightmares I had; the purchase by my dad of the second television set in our community and the social impact it had on our community and family; the integration of Little Rock Arkansas High School; the rise of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and the visit by President John F. Kennedy to our town, Aliquippa, the same year of his assassination. There will be more discussion on major events later in the story.

The Early Years

Our family in the 1940s was an upper poor class meaning we lived from pay day to pay day. Often we found it hard to eat good food a few days prior to pay day. We often found ourselves eating syrup sandwiches or sugar sandwiches. However, we managed to have a good family with lots of love shown but not stated. We were a family that believed it was more important to show your love by your actions rather than talking about the love of each other.

1943-Daddy, Ma,-rear, June- left, Harvey (baby in daddy’s