E. Norbert Smith, Ph.D.

Edgar Norbert Smith, 84, was born the son of Charles E. Smith and Opal E. Hansen in Lebanon, Oregon on July 6, 1941. Norbert, as he was known to his friends, is survived by son, Jayson and his wife Josette Smith of Bradenton, FL, and daughter Weena Ruth McKenzie of Yuma, AZ, and her son, Christopher Brent Maddox. Norbert passed away May 29th, 2026.

Norbert was always congenitally cheerful and outgoing. He never lacked friends who appreciate his sense of humor and wit. He loved good stories and jokes. He was a political conservative with a very high regard for the U.S. Constitution. Norbert was raised by his mother, Opal E. (Hansen) Smith and grandparents Hans P. Hansen and Emma Hansen. They lived on his grandparents farm six miles south of Weatherford, OK. Norbert attended Weatherford High School, graduating in 1959. He joined the U.S, Air Force after high school. While stationed in Maine, he met Joan Mae Duplisea and they were married July 1, 1960.

After an honorable discharge from the Air Force, he worked in electronics circuit design in the Dallas, TX area. During that time he and Joan ran their own ham radio station and he wrote articles on electrical circuitry for hobbyist magazines. When he eventually decided to extend his education he returned to Weatherford and enrolled in Southwestern State College there. In 1970 he received a B.S. degree in biology, graduating with honors. He combined his knowledge of electronics with his biology studies by designing and building miniature radio transmitters capable of measuring animal heart rates and body core temperatures. He used those to track and study rattlesnakes in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Washita County and other places in Oklahoma. By designing button sized radio transmitters and feeding them to rattlesnakes, Norbert clearly set himself apart from people of more normal talents and interests.

After graduation from Southwestern, he moved on to Baylor University where he obtained a M.S. degree in biology in 1973. After graduating from Baylor he went on to doctoral studies at Texas Tech University. He completed his dissertation and received a Ph.D. degree in biology in 1975. In his dissertation work he continued to develop his radio telemetry circuits and skills and used them in studies of American alligators. Those circuit designs and studies eventually led to his being selected as a keynote speaker at an international telemetry conference held at Oxford University in England in 1979.

After graduating from Texas Tech, Norbert spent one year teaching at Rochester Institute of Technology. He abandoned snowy Rochester for Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK in 1976 and taught there until spring 1981. During his years at NSU he owned a boat for use on Lake Tenkiller. In addition to the fun that he and his family had with the boat, he used it to transport students to islands on the lake where they used telemetry to study the various animals that lived on the islands. Norbert excelled in motivating college students to do their own biological research.

After NSU, Norbert worked for a time at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. He collaborated with Dr. Paul McCay, who became well known for his work in developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of specific chemicals produced in metabolic processes in living muscle tissues. McCay's early work at OMRF was helped along by Norbert's knowledge of animal physiology.

Norbert later took a teaching job at Redlands College, El Reno, OK, sometimes commuting from his grandparent's home south of Weatherford by motorcycle or plane. He loved flying his small plane. While working at Redlands, he began teaching at the federal prison at El Reno. He considered that to be a Christian duty and calling and he made several lasting friends among the inmates.

Norbert took early retirement from teaching and began driving trucks, which sadly paid better. He grew to like the work as he and his small dog, Gator, traversed the U.S. from coast to coast and beyond its borders. He loved the scenery, always keeping an eye out for the local flora and wildlife. During his years as a truck driver, he made many friends, often like himself in being educated far beyond the needs of their work. There were MDs, mathematicians, and engineers among them.

Since beginning his telemetry studies of wildlife, Norbert published more than 100 technical articles in peer reviewed science journals as well as numerous books on varied topics. His studies rewrote what we know about the physiology of snakes, squirrels, swamp rabbits, alligators, opossums and some birds.

Norbert had a continuing interest in making science interesting to children. Even before starting college studies he wrote nature articles for Ranger Rick and other children's magazines. Norbert published a series of small books about various creatures written for children.

After retiring, Norbert enjoyed gardening for many years in what was his grandmother's garden. When Ray and Ginger Read bought his land and lived close by- Norbert generously shared his two acre garden with Ginger. They became close friends.

Norbert reminded Ginger many times that he wanted his ashes to be scattered in his grandma's beloved garden.

Norbert was a believer of our Lord Jesus Christ. He loved the Lord, he read the Word, and loved attending Liberty church when he was able. His Hanson grandparents were charter members of Emmanuel Baptist Church of Weatherford and he was a member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church.

He was a resident of Homestead in Clinton and Weatherford for the past three and a half years and enjoyed good health until a month ago.

A Celebration of Life will be held on June 16, 2026, 10:00 A.M. at the First Baptist Church with Scott Page officiating. Services are under the direction of Lockstone Funeral Home.