Garland, "Butch" F. Smith Jr

*** FINAL ALARM *** Butch Smith - "The Duke", Retired Fire Captain * Palm Beach County Fire Rescue There simply does not exist anyone more resilient, steadfast and determined than this man, Butch Smith. He served as a great inspiration to those that knew him, during an incredible 53 year display of LIFE. He left a legacy of changed lives and an impact on the fire service that will continue for years to come. Garland Butch Smith was born May 10, 1963 in Daytona, Florida. The family moved south to Delray Beach Florida, where Butch graduated from Atlantic High School. He and his father slept, ate and drank football and to them The University of Miami (UM) logo was synonymous with Greatness. Canes fans for life, neither of them ever lost their love for "The U". At 6'5", a towering, tough, athletic Butch found his calling in the fire service in 1981 when he was hired by The Town of Palm Beach Fire Department, where he worked for 3 years. When Palm Beach County formed their own consolidated fire department, Butch was hired and graduated in the first recruit class, named "Genesis", on February 18, 1985. His abilities, training and leadership led him to a full and impactful career of achievements and accolades that placed him among the best of the best. He was a skilled firefighter and paramedic, and excelled in the Special Operations disciplines of technical rescue, extrication, hazardous materials, water rescue, confined space and high angle rescue. He was also a skilled instructor in many of those disciplines and rose in the ranks to Station Officer and Captain. At the age of 45 on July 8, 2008, Butch was diagnosed with Stage 4 Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells and initially was given only 2 years to live. The devastating news sent shock waves through the fire service community and connections he had made over the course of his career. In the spirit of the brotherhood, support for Butch and his family during this time of challenge culminated in the support organization "All In For Firefighters" and event "The Butch Smith Poker Classic." This event became an annual opportunity to create Awareness and Support for Firefighters battling Cancer. In true "Butch Smith" spirit, he insisted the proceeds from the annual Butch Smith Poker Classic (held each year and supported by The Palm Beach Kennel Club) be given to charities. For nearly 9 years as Butch fought through Stem Cell therapy, hospital admissions and releases, 100's of rounds of chemotherapy and other procedures his annual fundraiser continued and to date, has provided over $250,000 to local charities such as: Quantum House, the Rooney's Golf Foundation, Honor Flight Southeast Florida, the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Benevolent Fund, and the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, Florida Chapter. Butch was determined to make the issue of firefighter cancer a prominent fight worth winning for every firefighter. He has championed two videos about firefighter cancer through his story and those videos have been viewed by firefighters nationally. His public fight with cancer was inspirational to thousands of firefighters at a local, state, and national level. Butch helped to build a coalition with The Firefighter Cancer Support Network, Florida Chapter. This in turn led to a cancer prevention and research team called F.A.C.E., "Firefighters Attacking the Cancer Epidemic", being formed in Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. In less than a year from organizing, F.A.C.E. and the F.C.S.N formed an amazing partnership with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. Departments in Broward and Miami-Dade soon came on board and the first of its kind Florida firefighter cancer study was launched, known as the Firefighter Cancer Initiative (F.C.I). The amount of positive changes already occurring for the fire service in the fight against cancer because of F.A.C.E. and the F.C.I. is impressive and many more can be expected as the initiative moves forward. It was truly poetic, viewed as fate to many, for Butch to see his favorite team logo of the "U" behind a cancer research project that he helped initiate. He couldn't have been more proud of the collaboration and was honored in June of 2016 to present a highly customized fire helmet directly to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center's FCI Team. Through his mounting struggles from the advancing and relentless cancer side effects, Butch - known to many as "The Duke", never complained, never pitied himself and never wavered in his belief in what the power of determination could accomplish. From the beginning, the fight has never been about Butch, that's not what he wanted; it's been about every other firefighter's health and their quality of life, either actively working or well into retirement. He drew great pride in all that was accomplished and knew that he held at least a small part of the equation, and THAT, as he would say; "does the heart good." He passed as valiantly as he lived. Despite his initial 2-year life expectancy, Butch lived to see many things accomplished and goals achieved that no one thought were possible. He has provided us all with a legacy of change, firefighter initiatives, and fulfilled challenges. His life was most assuredly about family and fun too. Throughout his life he had a love of spending time with close friends hunting, fishing, scuba diving and more recently playing video games with his grandchildren. Despite his condition, he made plans and fulfilled promises to take friends and family hunting, to Disney World, and of course to UM games. He passed from this life with a knowledge that things are moving at a pace that will continue accomplishing even more to prevent other firefighters from having to deal with the tragedy and challenges he faced. Butch is survived by his loving wife, Andrea; Mother, Ruth Smith; Sister, Susan Bolduc Daughters, Whitney Chapman, Tiffany McManus; and 5 beautiful grandchildren; Zachary, Jordyn, Emmerson, Gianna, and Reagan. Services are to be held at 12 noon on January 9th: Christ Fellowship, Royal Palm Campus 9905 Southern Blvd. Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 Fire Department personnel attending the service are encouraged to wear Class A Uniform. Fire Departments wishing to send an apparatus should contact Driver Operator Jeff Rudd: jrudd@pbcgov.org to coordinate time and location / directions. A fire service hosted family and friends' reception on site to follow at 1:30 p.m. in the same location. In lieu of flowers, the family has kindly requested that donations be made to support Butch's Annual Event by visiting: www.allinforfirefighters.com Other Inquiries or questions regarding the service, should be directed to the Memorial Liaison: Battalion Chief Tozzi: atozzi@pbcgov.org For