William "Bill" A. Smith Born March 20, 1959. Passed away July 17, 1999. Bill Smith was a hard working, very talented framing Foreman. Bill came to work with us in about 1983 in Ontario on a Barratt homes tract. Bill was the son of Jack Smith.

Newspaper article: "Heroic son: Did the right thing at right time." by Jack Daniel Smith of Rialto

A hero is someone who is at the right place at the right time and does the right thing. Not all people get a change to perform heroic acts. My son, Bill (William Alexander Smith), was killed in a tragic accident while flying his ultralight aircraft near Perris on July 17. In a beautiful card send to us from the family of the owner of the airport at Parris Air Park, Diane Conatser wrote, in part, " I could see when Bill looked at you that you were his hero," or words to that effect. Diane thought a great deal of Bill and his performance as a flight instructor. I estimate that Bill flew more than 4,000 instructional flights in his trainer in the last four years and flown his aircraft almost 2,000 hours. I taught Bill to fly while he was in high school. Shortly after his mother's death in 1977, he was out sky diving at Parris Air Park. Approximately a year later, we were standing in our doorway in north Rialto watching a thunderstorm, when a bolt of lightening struck the power lines across the street from our home. The live wires fell on the street. Bill, knowing the wires were live and dangerous, dashed out in the street, barefoot, to stop cars from running over the live wires. Bill was in the right place at the right time and did the right thing. Bill was courageous. Bill will always be my hero, and he knows it. That's all that matters.