A year ago Jan. 7, Wiscasset Patrol Officer Donald H. Smith Jr., Wiscasset 6 on the police radio and Donnie to those who knew him, died unexpectedly at home. Family members, some moved to tears, stood together on the anniversary of the loss as Smith’s nephew on the force, Steven Smith, received his uncle’s call number.

The 21-year-old joined the department last fall. He has already made his uncle proud, Police Chief Troy Cline said in assigning Donnie Smith’s call number to Steven Smith. “He has really stepped up and become a fine young officer,” Cline said.

“I expect him to become as good or maybe an even better officer than his uncle. He’s got some big shoes to fill, though,” Cline added.

He shook hands with the 2012 Wiscasset High School graduate and gave him a certificate; Cline, along with Donnie Smith’s daughter Kirsten Smith and his widow Janet Smith, had signed it.

“I think this is certainly what your uncle would have wanted,” Janet Smith told her nephew in the ceremony that family members said was arranged to be a surprise to the officer.

“We’re all proud of you,” she added.

The certificate reads, in part:”You are hereby assigned radio call number Wiscasset 6, in commemoration of late Officer Donald Smith, beloved father, husband and your uncle.”

“It’s a huge honor,” Steven Smith said after the presentation.

The chief’s comment about his potential as an officer felt like it was a challenge for him to live up to, he said.

Smith’s training officer, Patrol Officer Alfred “Willy” Simmons, concurred with Cline about Smith’s progress. “He’s doing really good,” Simmons said. Having served with Smith’s uncle, Simmons saw the reassignment of the call number as fitting.

Donnie Smith served 22 years with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and had been on the Wiscasset force since 2007.

His brother, Reserve Patrol Officer Mike Smith, has been with the department for 24 years. He watched Thursday morning as his son became Wiscasset 6. “For him to get it, for me it carries on my brother’s legacy,” Mike Smith said.

Steven Smith cited the example his uncle and father have set, when asked why he was following them into police work. “I just wanted to carry it on,” he said.

His younger brother Matthew Smith is also considering going into law enforcement.

The Wiscasset Middle High School freshman smiled in a brief interview and said, “It’s just a family tradition now.”