Hal Smart

Hal Scott Smart, 64, of Grand Forks, ND, passed away on January 15, 2025 after a battle with an aggressive and rare form of cancer. Hal was born at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, on January 20, 1960 to Beverly and Joseph Smart. He spent his first three years watching naval aviators taking off and landing, hearing the roar of their engines and feeling the thunder of their passing. Some of his earliest memories were of these moments, and they led him into a lifelong love of all things aircraft related.

Hal grew up in a family troubled by an abusive father but anchored by an amazing and loving mother. Beverly and Hal had an exceptional relationship and he was always the favored son, a fact acknowledged by his three brothers, and which was not only accepted as normal, but they to this day perceive as his rightful place.

The family moved from place to place so many times during Hal’s early life that by the time he was seventeen years of age he had seen more than seventeen different homes. This very unusual experience gave him a tight bond with his brothers, a bond which lasted his entire life. One of the places where the family lived was on Guam, an American territory in the Pacific Ocean near Japan. This almost three year stay, from 1969 into 1972, as well as a return journey home that encompassed travel to thirteen different countries, instilled in Hal an abiding love of Guam, and of traveling.

When the family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1974, Hal attempted to join the Civil Air Patrol and attend Spartan School of Aeronautics. His father, however, refused to allow either. This, coupled with the fact that student loans for low income families did not exist at that time, meant Hal’s dreams of flying military aircraft had to be modified to more realistic expectations. Upon graduation from high school in Boonville, Missouri in 1978, Hal immediately joined the United States Air Force, embarking on a career that would span 27 years of service.

Hal was stationed at, either permanently or temporarily, at a number of locations across the world. In order to honor the sacrifices that he, his beautiful wife Sherri, and his three wonderful children, Christopher, Samantha, and Joshua, had to make, and to illustrate what all military families endure, his duty assignments are listed for everyone to see: Lackland AFB, TX; Luke AFB, AZ; Anderson AFB, Guam; Grand Forks AFB, ND; Bitburg AFB, Germany; Saudi Arabia (3 tours); Turkey; Grand Forks AFB (2nd tour), ND, and reserve duty status through Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.

During his service he earned 34 separate medals and received numerous commendations and citations. Examples include the Air Force Commendation Medal with five devices and the Air Force Outstanding Unit award w/Valor with four devices.

Hal’s favorite duty station was undoubtedly the several years he spent at Anderson AFB on Guam. His return to the island allowed him to re-connect with childhood memories, especially those associated with the US War Dog Memorial, Talofofo Falls, and the Chamorro people. His favorite Guamanian foods were traditionally pit-cooked pig and pickled papaya.

Hal met the love of his life, Sherri Larson, while he was serving the first of two stints at Grand Forks, AFB. Their chance meeting one evening at a local hangout saw Hal introduce himself with a smart aleck comment, which was returned by Sherri with an equally smart aleck retort, neither of which can be printed here but both of which will live on in family legend. They were married on November 2, 1985 and would eventually have three children. Hal and Sherri were married for over 39 years before his passing.

Hal retired with an Honorable Discharge in 1998 and moved with his family to his wife’s hometown of Baudette, MN. He then re-enlisted in the Air Force Reserves, serving for seven more years before finally retiring permanently in 2005.

Hal’s family meant everything to him. He “always loved to take an interest in the interests of each of his children and of his wife”, according to Josh. Hal and Sherri traveled to countless hockey, football and track events, always supporting Joshua’s sporting endeavors. He and Samantha bonded over every type of music, especially while they did woodworking projects in the garage. He and Christopher spent countless hours battling in and over video games, each trying to best each other until it became obvious Christopher had become the master and Hal the student. When Sherri and her girlfriends, called the Party Girls, got a little wild and crazy, Hal was always there to support them, even when he had to take one of them to the emergency room after an accident. He and Sherri were active in the Legion in Baudette, although he might have spent some of that time playing Texas Hold-em or buying Pull Tabs. They lived in Baudette for the next 17 years, during which time Hal worked at Marvin Windows in Warroad, MN. The children grew up there and all three graduated from Lake of the Woods High School. After the children had moved into adult life, Hal and Sherri moved back to Grand Forks, where he would live the rest of his life.

Samantha and her significant other, Paul, have two children, Serenity and Quinn, so Hal became the doting grandfather, horseplaying and goofing around with them, spoiling them as only a granddad can. They are both old enough that they will have memories of him, and there is little doubt those memories will be surrounded by a golden hue, especially those that include Starbright mint candies.

Hal began experiencing severe pain during the summer of 2024 but doctors could not locate its source, attributing it to, possibly, an ongoing shoulder injury. By late October the pain had become almost debilitating. In December, doctors did a biopsy after realizing that Hal might have cancer. Hal entered the hospital on Thursday, January 9, 2025 after consulting with a VA doctor. He was diagnosed with a rare and extremely aggressive form of cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma, ALK positive, T-cell, just two days before his death. The family includes this information here as Hal’s family history showed almost no known cancer on either side and because Hal was exposed to not only burn pits but also long-term and heavy exposure to air polluted by the burning oil wells during the first Gulf War.

Hal passed peacefully on January 15, 2025, surrounded by his wife, Sherri, and two surviving children, Samantha and Joshua. His three brothers were also in attendance during his final few days.

At Hal’s request there will be no military funeral, although he loved the Air Force, nor any services or celebration of life. Instead, at his request, the family will return his ashes, and those of his beloved son Christopher, to God and nature at a later time and at a specific spot of Hal’s own choosing.

Sherri and the entire extended family are appreciative of all the messages and phone calls and love from everyone who has known Hal. Prayers are appreciated, and the family welcomes your kind words and support. Messages can be sent to Sherri Smart, 2496 Lawndale Road, Grand Forks, ND 58201.

A special thank you goes out to Amundson Funeral Home in Grand Forks, who has helped Hal with his final journey home through their gracious actions and exemplary service. Thank you especially to Phil Amundson, whose empathy and understanding made deeply personal moments less painful.

Hal is a wonderful, complicated, loving, persnickety, loyal, smart alecky, honorable and exceptionally unique, yet amazing, man. Please say a prayer for him as he wings his way to heaven. Here, at the end of his life, he has finally been able to fly, and that makes everyone who knew him happy. In his honor, his family submits the following poem for him, as he loved it as his favorite.

 High Flight

 By Flight Lieutenant John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

 Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth 

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings

 Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

 Of sun-split clouds, -- and done a hundred things

 You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung

 High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

 I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung

 My eager craft through footless halls of air…

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 Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

 I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

 Where never lark, or even eagle flew

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 And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod

 The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

 Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.