Erika Smith (née Neumann), aged 93, passed away on June 24, 2024, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Born on March 14, 1931, in Kobe, Japan, she was the daughter of Hana Tsumura and William Neumann.

On February 20th, 1952, she married the love of her life, Walter William Smith Sr., in Tokyo Japan. She moved to the United States in 1953, and later flourished in a distinguished career with the Army Air Force Exchange, dedicating over 30 years of service. Erika began her career in Yokohama, Japan, and rose to become a manager.  She oversaw several post exchange locations at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos) and later served as the director of operations at the Okinawa post exchange. Erika retired from her final post at Vandenberg Air Force Base, renowned for her dedication and the deep bonds she forged with her colleagues.

Erika was a generous, loving, nurturing, dedicated, disciplined, and humble individual. Her love language was cooking, and she found so much joy in watching her family devour her delicacies.  Saturday evenings were often spent watching Japanese dramas with her family or Dancing with the Stars. All her grandchildren knew she was their biggest cheerleader and, in her eyes, could often do no wrong.  She cherished traveling and spending time with her expansive family, especially her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

She is survived by a large and loving family, including her sister Hiroko Gondah, son Walter Smith Jr., daughter-in-law Rita Smith, daughter Patricia Wojciechowski, son-in-law JP Wojciechowski, her grandchildren: Stacy, Jennifer, Eric, Walter, Lacey, Tamara, Ricardo, Joshua, Amber, Justin, Alyssa, Logan, Boston; great-grandchildren: Tyler, Jordan, Rylyn, London, Trent, Landon, Ryder, Rhys, Bennett; and great-great- grandchildren Claire and Trevor. They will miss her dearly.

Erika was preceded in death by her husband Walter Smith Sr. and daughter Doreen Dailey.

A service to celebrate Erika's life will be held on July 1st at 2 pm at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, located at 517 Paso Hondo Street, San Antonio, TX 78702 - Shelter 1 - meet there 15 minutes prior to start of service.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Erika's memory can be made to the American Widow Project, K9s For Warriors, National Alliance for Children's Grief, and MISSFoundation. Further details can be found on their respective websites: americanwidowproject.org, k9sforwarriors.org, nacg.org, and missfoundation.org. Erika's spirit of generosity and support will continue through these contributions, reflecting her lifelong commitment to nurturing and care.