Delford M. Smith

Delford Michael Smith, born Michael King on 25 February 1930 and died on 7 November 2014, was an American aviator and businessman from Oregon. Orphaned at birth and adopted as a toddler, he grew up in Washington state, graduated from the University of Washington in 1953 with a degree in business and psychology, and served as an officer in the United States Air Force, supporting the 82nd Airborne Division during the Korean War. After leaving the service he flew helicopters commercially and in 1960 founded Evergreen Helicopters with a single Hiller UH-12. It was the first of seven interrelated companies he founded and ran from McMinnville, Oregon, among them the airline Evergreen International Airlines, which he built after buying Johnson Flying Service in 1975. He also created the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, home of the Spruce Goose.