Jim Smith of Arroll, MO departed peacefully on 12/10/24 at 0928 after a brief illness with family at his bedside. The high temperature for the day was 40 degrees, the low was 26; the sky was deep blue with small, wispy clouds (he dutifully kept track of this for years in small, pocket calendars.) He was 3 days shy of his 80th birthday.
He was born in 1944 in Port Huron, MI to J. Oscar and Dorothy (Elliot) Smith. He attended St. Stephen’s High School, and later completed an apprenticeship to become a journeyman tool & die maker. He also worked as a roofer, a gandy dancer for the “Grand Funk” Railroad, a night plant manager at General Motors, UPS driver, and likely most noteworthy, a State employed honeybee inspector–a seamless overlay of vocation with a hobby that provided lifelong enjoyment.
Jim was active in his church in MI, and often volunteered his time. He regularly hauled potatoes donated from a friend’s large farm to the local St. Vincent de Paul’s Society for families suffering from food insecurities in the area. He routinely visited homebound, elderly neighbors on horseback. He continued this practice for years after moving to MO by visiting neighbors in the local nursing home, often bringing gifts of honey, or tomatoes from the garden (he had long given up the horseback visits by this time.)
On July 30th, 1966 he was joined in marriage to Diana L. (Reitz.) They met on a blind date, of which he quipped, “She was blind & I was the date.” The day after they returned from their honeymoon in Au Gres, MI Jim dug up the entirety of their yard by hand, thus beginning their long foray into gardening. Jim and Diana were married 58 years, and never missed a single year of putting in a garden.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother J. Daniel Smith, sister Jennifer Smith, infant brother Jeffrey Smith, and son Timothy Smith.
Jim is survived by his wife Diana of Arroll, MO, brother Jonathan Smith of Avoca, MI, son Jesse Brackenberry and wife Stacie of Columbia, MO, son Andrew Smith and wife Cassandra of Houston, MO, and grandchildren Morgan Naes and fiance John Cobb of Columbia, MO, Michael Marberry and fiancee Alicia Gerhardt of Moberly, MO, and Gaige Naes and wife Courtney of Las Vegas, NV.
He always shared the gift of his time. Whether it was reading a new book aloud each week to Andrew when he was young, teaching his daughter-in-law Stacie the intricacies of beekeeping, or unraveling a nearly unsalvageable knotted skein of sock yarn for his wife, his patience was his hallmark attribute. He was a teacher, and the memories of his quiet demeanor, and gentle soul will be cherished by those that knew him well. In memoriam, feed the birds, or donate to a charity of your choosing; he would be humbled by your thoughts of him. A memorial gathering will be held at the family farm to be determined at a later date.
He slipped away so quickly from us, but as Papa (what everyone called him) would have jokingly said, “Here’s your hat…what’s your hurry?”
