November 1, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
The City of Smithville is paying tribute to a long time local aviator who passed away in July.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the Smithville Aldermen voted unanimously to name the field at the Smithville Municipal Airport in memory of Wayne Hubbs. The name of the airport itself will not be changed.
Former airport manager Joe Johnson formally made the request on behalf of Roth Terrell, Chairman of the Smithville Airport Advisory Board who was unable to attend the meeting Monday night. Johnson said the airport board had gone on record to make this recommendation to the mayor and aldermen.
“We are not asking you to change the name of the airport. We are only asking that you name the field for Wayne Hubbs just like the field at the Nashville International Airport is named Berry Field,” said Johnson.
Hubbs, who had been a resident of Smithville for four decades, was not only a local pilot himself but a friend to other aviators and members of this community and a great supporter of the Smithville Municipal Airport. Flying was Wayne’s greatest passion. He could be seen regularly soaring through the skies of Smithville and beyond in “Big Red”, his beloved Magni Gyro.
“He was the nicest person you could ever meet. He served on the airport board and was active in his church and community. He did things for a lot of people,” said Johnson. “ I was airport manager for two years and he helped me in many ways. I remember he would mow around the taxiway and runway weekly. That’s three trips around at 2.1 miles each or six miles on a lawnmower not counting the rest of the yard. When something tore up at the airport he fixed it. He helped repair planes and he worked with me on getting new t-hangars built, pulling wire and putting up doors. He worked on those hangars everyday so that people could have a place to put their airplanes. He did so much for the airport that we would like to ask the city council to name the airport field the Wayne Hubbs Field,” said Johnson.
Hubbs’ daughter Sheryl May of Heimbuchenthal, Germany, who was present for the meeting Monday night, told the local media later that she is proud of this moment and her father would have been too. She added that since her father’s body had been cremated and his ashes scattered over the airport field this tribute would serve as a lasting memorial to him.
“This is my proudest moment. I know if he were here it would be his proudest moment too because that airport and the people there, like Joe Johnson and Roth Terrell, and all the others meant more to him than anything. He would do anything for anybody. You won’t hear a bad story about him,” said May.
“My dad’s body was cremated. We felt that this is what he would have wanted because before his death he had just planned his friend Jim Dorroh’s funeral. Dad planned all his financial things for my sister and me to know what to do but none of the private part such as how he would want his memorial service to be or any of those things so I had watched what he had done for his friend and thought that must be what he wanted for himself so he was cremated and his ashes were spread over the airport that he loved. He has no marker anywhere so the airport field being named after him is his marker and that is where my heart will be,” added May.