From http://www.avpress.com/obit-archive.php?obit=30783930

SMITH, SAMUEL Q.
SMITH, Samuel Q. A 60 year resident of the Antelope Valley passed away December 16, 2009. Smith, born in Toledo, Ohio on December 11, 1923, graduated from Toldeo Waite High School in 1943, and was drafted into the United States Army. He fought in World War II with the 62nd Armored Infantry Battalion of the 14th Armored Division as a mortar gunner. After his discharge from the Army, Sam attended The University of Toledo and earned his BS degree in mathematics. He moved to Lancaster in 1950, to work for the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the precursor to NASA. Sam retired from his job as a flight test computer programmer for NASA in 1983. An avid backpacker and hiker, Sam hiked the entire John Muir Trail and climbed Mt. Whitney. Sam was also a talented amateur wildlife photographer and a HAM radio operator. Although Sam never married, he was the beloved brother of two sisters, uncle to six nieces and nephews, eight grand nephews and four grand nieces, four great grand nieces and one great grand nephew. He is survived by his sister, Amy Rogers of Lancaster.