From the sounds of it, E. Hoke Smith, 68, was one of those colorful aviators they make movies about.<br />
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Elijah Hoke Smith, or "Hoke" as people called him, was born in Washington, Georgia on June 10, 1943, and was raised in Macon, Georgia. At age 17 he enrolled at Mercer University where he obtained a bachelor's degree. Hoke started flying planes as a teenager, and the Army taught him how to fly helicopters in the early 1960s. He then flew them into combat in Vietnam; he served two tours with the 82nd airborne division and with the 199 Aviation Company where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Upon his honorable discharge from the military, Hoke earned a Masters of Business Administration from the prestigious University of Chicago. He went on to leadership roles in the business community. Hoke was a man's man; a letterman athlete in high school, brave in battle, fair and focused in business, and dedicated to his family.<br />
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In 1997 Hoke founded SK Logistics, later SK Jets, with one helicopter. SK Jets relocated to the St. Augustine Airport and grew to 40 employees and a fleet of seven jets and two helicopters. One of the company's specialties became transporting donated organs after it landed the contract for performing such flights for the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. The company's experience with Mayo led to similar work with several other hospitals in Florida. The company flies over 200 missions a year.<br />
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Hoke Smith consistently explained safety procedures to his passengers, a reflection of his own safety consciousness; he was also incredibly gifted as a pilot. When it came to flying, there didn't seem to be anything he couldn't do. "If you could show him how to start it, he could fly it," said his son, Derrick Smith. He continued to say his dad was especially capable in difficult flying conditions and was an expert at the often stressful organ transport flights. "He was always a real stickler for safety - everything always had to be right."<br />
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He died early in the morning on December 26, 2011 along with Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon Luis Bonilla, M.D., and procurement technician David Hines. They were flying from St. Augustine, Florida, to Gainesville, Florida, to retrieve a donor heart and transport it to a transplant recipient waiting at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville when the helicopter he was flying crashed in a remote densely wooded area near Palatka.<br />
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Honored 2013 |