Obituary of Durand M. Smith

Durand Murkland Smith, 87, passed away on Monday October 21, 2013 at St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville, NJ following a short illness. He was born on December 21, 1925 in Rockaway to his late parents Preston S. and Gladys Hammel Smith. He graduated from Rockaway High School class of 1943. After graduating Durand joined the US Navy, during WWII where he had served in the European and the Pacific Theatres. He had also participated in the D-Day invasion and the invasion of Okinawa. Following the war he started his career as an engineer at Warner Lambert in Morris Plains and later at Reaction Motors a division of Thiokol Corp. in Denville and later worked as a Stationary Plant Engineer for R.C.A. Records in Rockaway, NJ until his retirement. He had served as a volunteer fireman with the Rockaway Borough Fire Department and is a member of the Fire Department Exempt Association. He is predeceased by his wife the late Audrey Shafer who died in Mar.1997, as well as his three brothers Sherwyn Smith, Leland Smith and Kenyon Smith and his sister Glenda Bidgood. He is survived by his son and his wife Jeffrey and Karen Smith of Point Pleasant, NJ and his daughter and her husband Kelly and Ariel Macalalad of Oxford, NJ, his five beloved grandchildren Timothy Smith, Heather (Robert) Coon, Devin Macalalad, Kacey Macalalad and Connor Macalalad, as well as his four sisters Marilyn McPeak of Hackettstown, NJ, June Stephens of Flanders, NJ, Dianne Johansson of Bangor, PA and Gyl Fela of Susquehanna, PA. Funeral services will be held on Monday Oct. 28, 2013 at 11:00 AM at the Norman Dean Home for Services 16 Righter Avenue Denville, NJ , www.normandean.com. Friends may visit with the family on Sunday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Please share a memory of Durand by lighting a candle on our web site. Donations are being accepted to the Rockaway Borough Fire Department 1 East Main St. Rockaway, NJ 07866.