Burton Howard Smith, 95, of Lexington, died on March 17, 2019.

Mr. Smith was born on September 3, 1923 in New York City. He was the son of Watson B. Smith and Hazel H. Smith.

Known as Burt to family and friends, he grew up in Larchmont, NY. He was an Eagle Scout, an amateur radio operator (W2MVV) and received letters in track and cross-country prior to graduating from Mamaroneck High School. He was accepted at the Cornell University School of Electrical Engineering. While a sophomore, he joined the US Navy V12 program and was returned to Cornell by the US Navy. He graduated from the Cornell School of Electrical Engineering where he was elected a member of Etta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honorary electrical engineering fraternities. He was commissioned an Ensign in the US Navy upon graduation from the Reserve Midshipmen's School at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD. He was sent to the M.I.T. Radar School after volunteering for the Navy Air Corps. His responsibility was to insure all electronic equipment in the squadron commander's plane operated properly. After the war, he was assigned to the Anti-Submarine Warfare School at the US Naval Air Station, Norfolk, VA to correct problems in a new sonabuoy. He was next assigned to the aviation division of the light cruiser USS Fargo (CL106) while it operated in the South Atlantic and the Mediterranean theaters.

Upon release from active duty from the U.S.Naval Reserve in 1946, he was employed by the Raytheon Company Microwave Tube Division. He designed and developed magnetrons, klystrons and traveling wave tubes. These devices were employed in transmitters for radar, communications, electronic countermeasures microwave heating and missile guidance. One such program was the successful development of the Traveling Wave Tube used in the Patriot Missile onboard guidance system. The program produced tubes for the initial test firings as well as follow-up on operational missiles. He was the holder of nine patents and presented thirty scientific papers at various Electron Device Conferences. He rose through the engineering ranks to the level of Consulting Engineer, the highest engineering position in Raytheon.

Mr. Smith retired from Raytheon after working forty-six years. He continued as a microwave tube consultant for Raytheon and other organizations. One of these activities involved the design of an Electron Beam Machine for sanitizing small cartons for human use. In 2006, he presented a paper at the Vacuum Devices Conference in Monterey, CA, describing a new type of electron beam source with the capability of changing the beam current form full on to complete cutoff, a capability not previously possible.

Mr. Smith was a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club. During his early years at Raytheon, he cruised the Maine and Massachusetts coasts in chartered sailboats with Raytheon friends. He and his family later spent summer vacations in Chatham, MA. He was a member of the Pilgrim Congregational Church and served on the Finance and Administration Committee.

He was a member of the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society Painters Guild, where he primarily painted marine subjects and landscapes. Mr. Smith was an avid bicyclist on the Minuteman Bike Way and volunteered at the Lexington Senior Center Elmer Bull Fix-it Shop for the past twelve years.

He is survived by his son Derek H. Smith, his daughter Diana G. Swift, his son-in-law Mark Swift and two grandchildren, Lauren and Michael Swift all of Lexington. He was predeceased by his daughter Pamela F. Smith, who passed on after a five-year battle with childhood leukemia.

Private funeral services were held at Westview Cemetery in Lexington.