During his 30-year-career with the Secret Service, Patrick "Rick"Smith has been assigned to six sitting presidents, one former president and the current vice president.

He's toured the country — and the world — over.

He's met officials, dignitaries and even Pope John Paul II.

Yet the 53-year-old Smith insists, "I'm still just a small town Butler boy."

On Friday, he retired from three decades of service.

Born and raised on Muntz Avenue, Smith said he knew early in life what type of career he wanted.

President Kennedy's assassination, when Smith was an impressionable 11-year-old, sealed the agency of Smith's choice.

"That stuck with me," he said.

From that point forward Smith said he customized his education and behavior toward fulfilling that goal.

One of six brothers born to Mary "Pat"Smith-Ford and the late Norman F. Smith, Smith graduated from Butler High School in 1971 and went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to earn a degree in criminology.

He joined the Secret Service in May 1976, and retires today as the agent in charge of technical security.

Smith said his career has more than fulfilled his childhood dreams.

"I've witnessed history beyond anything I've ever imagined,"he said.

His assignments have included Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes.

He also was assigned to Richard Nixon after he had left office and, in the most recent four years, Vice President Dick Cheney.

Although he has accompanied these men to foreign lands and the type of events most of us only see on television, Smith said equally thrilling was a day during the last presidential campaign when he accompanied Cheney right down Butler's Main Street and then on to a speaking event in Saxonburg.

"It was an unbelievable thing,"he said of the cruise through his hometown.

Not that he's become a stranger to Butler over the years.

His mother still lives here. And he keeps in touch with some high school friends.

No matter where he has traveled, he has never felt he was far from home, he said.

"Anywhere I've ever gone through my work, I've met someone who has been to Butler, knew Butler, knew someone from Butler,"he said. "It never ceases to amaze me. All over the country... all over the world ... people know Butler."

One person important in Smith's life who knows Butler very well is his wife of 29 years, Phyllis Davis Smith.

She, too, was born and raised here.

Phyllis said her husband's career choice frightened her at first. But then she learned to have trust in his expertise.

She's enjoyed some fringe benefits over the years, including invitations to exclusive Christmas parties and functions.

Still, rubbing elbows with the White House occupants never became passe to this small town gal.

"It is totally overwhelming and exciting,"she said. "Every time."

Phyllis said she and her husband, who have two grown children, hope to eventually settle back into small town life in North Carolina.

But that's the plan "for the retirement after the retirement."

On Monday, Smith will be sworn in as the United States Marshal of the Western District of North Carolina.

That office's duties include security for federal courts, judges, and fugitives, and witness protection.

Smith was appointed to the job by President Bush.

Smith's mother said she's found occasion to be frightened for her son over the years. But, she said she knew the job was making him happy, so it made her happy, too.

She has albums full of photos and memorabilia marking some of the people and places her son has encountered. She also stood in the front row — with an agent of her own — when her son came to Saxonburg with Cheney.

Smith's mother was also proud every time she saw him on television, standing at the elbow of a president or the vice president. But she was never surprised by his career choices or success.

"He has got true grit,"she said.