Bo Smith's Website

My Wife Diana

August 16, 1941 - May 31, 2025

Many people have described Diana as the nicest most considerate person they had ever met!

A Celebration of Life memorial service/reception will be held
on Friday, June 27th from 1:00-4:00pm in a private room at
Maggiano's Italian Restaurant, Town Center
10367 Midtown Parkway,
Jacksonville, Florida 32246

For those who wish to attend Diana's Celebration of Life, please RSVP me by email

bosmith1300@gmail.com no later than June 20th!

Profile

Education
1959-1963

BA Geological Sciences '1963
50+ Graduate Hours

Military Service

1963-1991

Educator

1991-2007

Bo's Mine Tours and
Educational Services

2007-2020

"Any man may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile,

I think he can respond with a great deal of pride and satisfaction ....... I served in the U.S. Navy "

John F. Kennedy

For more Details about my Navy and Education Career click on My Personal Page

My Active Websites


Bo's Jewelry For Sale Updated April 26th, 2023	Bo's Minerals For Sale Updated February 1st, 2023	Bo's Mine Tours Consulting Updated: July 9th, 2023	Native American Mica Mining Research Project Updated February 19th, 2018	Protein Crystals in Space Updated August 1st, 2008

Bo's Memoir

(Last Updated June 3rd, 2025)

I got this image on Facebook of poster advertised by smileup.shop.com

I have completed the following chapters (except for updates and corrections):
My Childhood through high school (1941-1959), Cornell (1959-1963),
Navy Jet Flight Training (1963-1965), VA-15 Circa 1966/1967-First tour as a carrier jet pilot flying the A4 Skyhawk with the VALIONS of Attack Squadron 15 from the deck of USS Intrepid (CVS-11) VA-15 with two deployments to Vietnam in 1966 and 1967, USAF Exchange Tour with the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing flying the F-105 Thunderchief (1968-1970), Completion of A7 Corsair II training at VA-174 and my Second tour as a carrier pilot with VA-82 from the deck of the USS America (CV-66) for a Med cruise in 1971 and my 3rd Vietnam deployment in 1972. my tour at the Royal Air Force Staff College (1973) in England(I will do a major update soon); my tour at Staff of Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia from 1974 to 1976, My XO/CO tour in VA-15 from 1977 through April 1979, Staff of COMTHIRDFLEET in Hawaii from 1979 through 1980, my tour as CO of VA-174; 1981-1982, my brief tour as Interim CO of FACSFACJAX in 1982, my assignment as Executive Officer of USS Saratoga CV-60 from 1983-1985. my tour as Commanding Officer of USS Austin LPD-4 (1985-1987), and my tour as Chief of Staff CRUDESGRUP12 (1988-1989).

I am working on my final chapter, my tour as Operations Officer at COMFAIRWESTPAC in Japan (1990-1991)

Bo's Memoir Website

Unfortunately, I had to stop my mine tours business in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina in 2015. Instead, I have began a hobby involving selling some of my minerals minerals and designing custom made pendants and rings from my home in Jacksonville.

I will continue working with the contacts I established during my days in Spruce Pine. Instead, I joined the Jacksonville Gem and Mineral Society took classes making cabochons and learning how to do wire wrapping.

Currently, all my minerals and supplies are in my garage in Jacksonville. I have accomplished a lot of processing in the garage and at the desk shown below.

I am working with the River City Science Academy here in Jacksonville to donate some of my minerals and rocks to support their middle school curriculum.

I have also conducted one workshop so far to provide training in how to support my philosophy of concept based learning.

RETCAPTS (Retired Captains Group)

RETCAPTS is a local social group which meets once a month for lunch. Membership in this group is extended to retired Navy Captains most whom have had a major command like command of an air wing or ship. Exceptions are granted on a case by case basis such as for POWs. We normally start with a libation of some kind followed by lunch at a local eatery. Conversation topics are varied; sea stories, military status discussions, politics, medical topics; nothing is off limits.

Members at our October 13th, 2021 get together at Mavis Seafood Restraurant

My VALION VA-15 Circa 1966/1967 Dinner at Caps
June 19th, 2020

My first squadron VA-15, had two back to back deployments Dixie and Yankee Stations off the coast of Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. I have detailed descriptions of those deployments in 'My Memoir'. We haven't had any reunions since then. As the years have gone by we have lost about half of our squadron members or their wives. Three members have passed since this picture was taken in 2020; Jerry "Possum" Terrell on the left end, his wife Sarah on the left end and Dave Parsons next to me. As it is getting increasingly difficult for some of us to travel, we are looking at possibly getting together in the future by Zoom.

Cody and Foo (Chinese Crested Puff Balls)

GGemini and Ruby

Barbara and her Shia Tzu in 2014

My sister Barbara is two years younger than me. She spent her life living and working in New Jersey. Barbara recently left her home for many years in a community for seniors in Tom River in southern New Jersey and currently lives in an apartment in Lincroft, which is in northern New Jersey about ten minutes from her daughter Melissa and her husband David. Barbara has a cat or two and a wonderful Shia Tzu, Nicki who is a brother of my recently departed Shia Tzu, King Tut.

What's all this about Northern and Southern New Jersey, you ask?

I was born in Orange, New Jersey which is near Newark (northern), lived my high school years in Ridgewood (northern), and spent a lot of time in our family vacation house in Normandy Beach (I think northern!) without being aware that there was a difference. I recently learned that there was a movement in the late 1700s to divide the state into east and west New Jersey; east favoring New York city and its politics, and west favoring Philadelphia as it's cornerstone. So, it is still true today! If you live on southern New Jersey you cheer for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Philadelphia Phillies. If you live in northern New Jersey, you are fans of the Giants or Jets, the Rangers or Islanders, and the Yankees or Mets. My daughter Jessica and her husband Tom live at Barenegat Light on Long Beach Island and are avid Philadelphia sports fans.

My Five Daughters

left to right: Laura, Heather, Jessica, Lindsay, Stacy (2011)

Daughter's and Grandchildren's Birthdays

Daughters (5)


Heather Smith (January 3rd, 1964)	Laura Smith (December 1st, 1965)	Stacy Smith Gant (July 19th, 1971)	Jessica Gail Scangarello (January 31st, 1983)	Lindsay Dean Harper (July 20th, 1985)

Grandchildren (10)

Austin Wright (July 12th, 1996) Hadden Wright (August 5th, 1998) Heather and David's sons	Eliza Eliza Emerson Voorhjies-18 (December 12th, 2006) Laura and Steve's daughter	Oliver Gant- 14 (June 30th, 2009) Stacy and Jed's son	Eleanor (Nora) Lewis Gant-10 (January 25th, 2013) Stacy and Jed's daughter
Leighton Marie Scangarello February 11th, 2013 Jessica and Tom's daughter	Carly Gail Scangarello March 3rd, 2016 Jessica and Tom's daughter	Alex Scangarello January 14th, 2017 Jessica and Tom's daughter	Thomas Dean Scangarello Born November 9th, 2022 Jessica and Tom's son
	Curran Harper- 10 March 2nd, 2012 Lindsay and Brett's son	Liv Harper- 9 October 9, 2013 Lindsay and Brett's daughter

Relatively Recent Family Pictures


Hadden in 2019 Masters Degree in Computer Science at UCLA	Hadden (left) and Austin in 2005 Budding Geologists	Austin in 2025 PhD in Machine Learning at Georgia Tech

The Arrival of Thomas Dean Scangarelllo

Jessica with Thomas

Thomas Dean Scangarello

Tom with Thomas

Alex, Thomas, Carly, Leighton

Fishing with the Scangarellos

Tom with prized Stripper
Leighton (left) and Carly (right)

Fishing with Tom and Jessica
in Barnegat Bay
I'm holding Jessica's catch

Doormat Flounders in 2021
with Carly (left) and Leighton (right)

Pictures of my daughter Laura, Steve, and Eliza Voorheis
Summer 2020 Vacation

My daughter Laura plans a summer vacation trip every summer.


This is Eliza (soon to be in 8th grade), Laura, and Steve on one of their first stops which was to camp at Rocky Mountain State Park in Colorado. Beautiful mountain landscape!	One of the places they visited next was Arches National Park in Utah. Even though I've spent a lot of time in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, I have never been able to visit Utah on the ground. Spectacular topography.

This is Eliza at Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, Canada on July 2019 at age 13. She will be 18 next December.

Picture of my daughter Stacy, Jed, Oliver, and Nora Gant
July 25th, 2020

My daughter Stacy, her husband Jed, and my grandchildren Oliver and Nora took a short break from their home in Raleigh and
spent some time enjoying a beautiful cabin and the spectacular views from the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
(Perhaps the trip was to celebrate Stacy's birthday- July 19th)


Oliver, Nora and me looking at my cabochons (One of my favorite pictures)	Nora (at age 6) and Oliver (at age 10) in the spring of 2019 . Oliver will be 15 June 30th, 2024 Nora was 11 on January 25th, 2024

Classic Pictures

Curran and Liv in Nevada

Lindsay and Jessica in 2018

which thinks nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is wiling to fight,
nothing that is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free
unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

2021 Left to Right: Ella (Austin's girlfriend), Austin, Hadden, David, Heather	My eldest daughter Heather is a senior lecturer and statistical consultant at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. CA. Her husband, David is a senior biostatistician for Weststat in Maryland but works from home. Their oldest son, Austin (left center) graduated from Cal Berkeley with a a dual physics and computer science major. He recently completed a one year Computer Science Master's Degree program ((machine learning) at Imperial College London. He is currently enrolled in a PhD program in Machine Learning at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Hadden (right center) completed his degree at UCLA in the Honors Program with a Math/Economics major with a concentration in computing and a minor in Statistics. He recently started his first job in Los Angeles.
December 2019	My "second" daughter Laura is an experienced television news producer who has her PhD in Journalism from the University of Texas. Laura is the "Hearst Lecturer of Journalism" for the College of Journalism at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. Her husband, Steve is a musician and private contractor. Their beautiful and talented daughter, Eliza is eighteen years old and is enjoying school in Columbia!
2021	My middle daughter, Stacy is the Director of Instructional Support Services at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Her group helps professors use instructional technology. Her husband, Jed, is a Media Strategist at Myriad Media, a great company in downtown Raleigh. They have two wonderful children; Oliver will be 15 on June 30th, 2024. He enjoys "Minecraft" and collecting gems, minerals, and fossils. Their daughter Nora was 11 on January 25th, 2024. Nora is very bright and a lot of fun! Their dog, Penny, is a yellow lab mix.
July 2019	This is a picture was taken of my fourth daughter Jessica, her husband Tom and their daughters Leighton, Carly, and Alex at "The Farm". They have a second home and a business on Long Beach Island on "the shore" in New Jersey. Tom and Jessica own a landscaping business on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. Tom manages the operations of the business while Jessica oversees the office management side. Tom decided to buy some land to use to process yard trash from the business. This land has been redeveloped into a farm with five horses and is a wedding venue. Tom graduated from Flagler College in St Augustine. Jessica earned her BA in Business Management at the University of North Florida while pursuing her first career as principal soloist at the Florida Ballet in Jacksonville. Their daughter Leighton will be 9 on February 11th. Their second daughter, Carly Gail Scangarello will be 6 on March 3rd. And, their third daughter, Alex Elizabeth Scangarello was 4 on December 14th, 2019. Their latest arrival Thomas Dean Scangarello was born on Novemver, 2022 and is pictured above. Pictured on the left at "the farm" is Tom, Leighton, Jessica, Alex, and Carly (with the jars of honey)!
January, 2020. Yosemite National Park	This is a picture of my fifth and beautiful daughter Lindsay, her husband, Brett and their two children Curran and Liv. Brett is a traveling trauma nurse. They move about every 6 months. Over the past few years they have lived in San Jose and near Nevada City, California, two trips to Oahu, Hawaii, Nevada near Lake Tahoe, and Anchorage, Alaska. Everyone in the family enjoys outdoor activities so have been surfing in Hawaii, hiking in Nevada, hiking and snow boarding in Alaska My daughter, Lindsay has been homeschooling the kids as they travel around. They recently surprised us by moving back to Jacksonville. Brett has a job at Memorial Hospital. They live about a mile from us.The have joined The Queen's Harbour Golf Club. Curran has become quite a talented golfer winning a local tournament for his age group with a high 70 score. Currran was 12 this March; Liv was 10 last October.