Dr. Alfred "Tinker" E. Smith

1928-2019

Alfred E. “Tinker” Smith, born in Houston, Tx, was the 5th son and 7th child of Cecil Thomas and Helen Margaret (née Bero) Smith. He attended St. Thomas High School, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He began his career in 1956 as a general practitioner, but after two years unsatisfied and bored, he returned to school to earn a degree as a general surgeon and began his practice as such in 1962, in which he continued until he retired in 2008, even after this returning occasionally as an assistant in stomach stapling procedures for a number of years. He was an avid golfer, for many years as a member of Pine Forrest Country Club, and he also exercised his talents “managing” the Astros, Texans, Rockets and Tiger Woods via television. He is survived by his wife Shirley Marie, daughter Mary Theresa Thompson son-in-law Charlie, granddaughters Hannah Helene and Sarah Katherine Thompson, son Brad Matthew Smith and daughter-in-law Jeanine Elizabeth, and son Christopher Smith, one brother, four sisters, 48 nieces and nephews, and a few grand-nieces and nephews tossed in as well. He was a man dedicated to the service of other, and his legacy is found in the lives of those he saved and the love planted in the hearts of family and friends.