Letters to the Editor

'Will be missed'

I thank Bill McEwen for doing such an outstanding job with the column "A lifetime of giving that was nearly picture perfect" on Dec. 21. Mr. McEwen put forth a lot of time and effort researching and interviewing many people prior to writing the article that really captured the man who was Robert "Bob" Smith, my uncle.

Over his volunteer career, he donated 11 gallons of whole blood and 395 units of platelets, worked at blood drives and transported blood from the Visalia donor center to the main Fresno center for processing (nearly 1,000 hours of total donated time just to the Central California Blood Center).

Mr. Smith was also an American Cancer Society "Angel on Wheels," transporting cancer patients to and from appointments for more than 17 years. He was always quick to say "yes" to assignments and never met a person he didn't befriend.

Ironically, in his later years, Mr. Smith needed a lot of blood and platelets during his two separate bouts with lymphoma. However, being the proud man he was, he drove himself to appointments. He packed a lot of giving into his 82 years of life and will be missed by every life he ever touched.

Donna Gavello