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Obituary- Smatla, Bennie

Bennie Smatla
ROSSVILLE — Services were April 26 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Fla., for Bennie F. Smatla, 84, Jacksonville, formerly of Rossville, who died April 23,2003, at a Jacksonville hospital where he was admitted the day before. He had a heart ailment.

He was born June 11,1918, in Maple Hill, to Tom and Marie Smatla. He spent his early life in Rossville and graduated from Rossville High School. Ha spent many years in Jacksonville. He was a federal Civil Service employee at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville for 15 years before he retired.

He was a veteran of World War II, having enlisted in the Navy in August 1941. He underwent basic training at the Naval Station in Great Lakes, III., and then was a fire fighter instructor in Memphis, Tenn. During World War II, he served with the First Expedition Forces on Guadalcanal in the Pacific, on Guam and in other war zones. He retired from the Navy on April 4,1965.

His military honors included the Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars, American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal and the Navy Good Conduct Medal.

He was a member of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville and had served for 33 years as an elder at the church.

He married LaVerne Letter on March 20,1971, in Jacksonville. She survives.

Other survivors include two daughters, Rita Antonicwicz, Albany, Ga., and Belinda Sawyer, Memphis; a stepdaughter, Georgie Keller, Acworth, Ga.; three brothers, Henry Smatla, Meriden, and Edward Smatla and William Smatla. both of Silver Lake; two sisters, Lydia F. Carl, Prairie Village, and Marie DeVeney, Raytown, Mo.; and two grandsons.

A detachment from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station and Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted graveside services at Jacksonville Memorial Gardens in Orange Park, Fla.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 6317103rd St., Jacksonville, 32210.

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