Former Bryan Fire Chief Smith Dead At 96

The Bryan Times today, is report­ing that long­time Bryan Fire Chief Merit Wal­lace Smith of Bryan, died Thurs­day at Bryan Care and Reha­bil­i­ta­tion. He led the depart­ment from 1964 until his retire­ment in 1979 and was a fire­fighter for 36 years, begin­ning that long career with the Fayette Fire Depart­ment back in 1943. His grand­son Joel DeLong is a cur­rent Bryan fire­fighter.

Along with his late wife, Dorothea Mae Smith, the cou­ple oper­ated Smith Weld­ing Shop and Smith Water Ball Com­pany. They were also the grand mar­shals of the 2007 Bryan Jubilee parade. Smith was 96 years old.