Charles H. Smelser (July 4, 1920 – January 29, 2009) was a Democratic State Senator and Delegate in Maryland.

Background

Smelser was first elected to the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

in 1955. He served in the House until 1963. In 1967, he was elected to the

Maryland State Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

, where he served until 1995, a Senate career of 28 years.

Education

Smelser attended Carroll County public schools. He graduated from New Windsor High School in 1937. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

in 1942. At Maryland he was a member of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

fraternity.

Career

After graduating from college, Smelser served in the United States Army Air Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was a pilot who flew 35 bombing missions from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in B-17's. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 5 Oak clusters. In addition to his political work and his military career, he was also a dairy farmer and in 1958 served as Director and later President of the New Windsor State Bank. He retired from this position in 1997.Answering Their Country's Call: Marylanders in World War II
/ref> In the Maryland Senate, Smelser was a member of several committees including but not limited to the Budget and Taxation Committee, the Executive Nominations Committee, the Rules Committee, the Legislative Policy Committee, the Joint Committee on Administrative, and Executive and Legislative Review. Additionally, he was the Senate Chair of the Joint Subcommittee on State's Capital Program. Smelser retired from politics in 1995.

Election results

*1990 Primary Race for Maryland State Senate – District 4 Retrieved on November 3, 2007 : *1986 Race for Maryland State Senate – District 4 Retrieved on November 3, 2007 :

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smelser, Charles H. 1920 births 2009 deaths People from Carroll County, Maryland University of Maryland, College Park alumni Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Maryland state senators United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Maryland politicians