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Submitted: 12/25/20 • Approved: 12/27/20 • Last Updated: 12/30/20 • R1357249-G0-S3
January 28, 1949 - December 19, 2014
Married Judy Jan 23, 1970
Jerry Don Smith, age 65 of Marshall, Arkansas passed from this life on Friday, December 19, 2014 at his home. He was born in Marshall, Arkansas on January 28, 1949 to Beecher Smith and Juanita (Cossey) Smith.
Jerry Don grew up in the Dongola community making wonderful story telling memories with the extended family. He graduated from Marshall High School in 1967. Jerry Don received the Ford Technical Scholarship and graduated from Northeastern Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in Miami, Oklahoma in 1969. Jerry continued his education at Kansas State College of Pittsburg, graduating with a BS in Industrial Technology.
On January 23, 1970 he married Judy Diann Clark at the residence of Mitchell Heard with their friends, Mary Margaret Loftin and James Horton as their witnesses. Just 8 days after graduating from college, Jerry Don was in San Antonio, Texas preparing for officers training school. Instead of being drafted by the Army, he joined the United States Air Force and became a pilot, making the decision without ever stepping foot on an airplane. While in the Air Force, the family relocated 12 more times before being able to return to Searcy County in 1985.
Jerry Don was very blessed to be present for the birth of his two children, Sherry Dawn in Lubbock, Texas and Bradley Craig in Blytheville, Arkansas. Captain Jerry Don Smith received an honorable discharge from the USAF in 1983. He retired as Captain from United Airlines in 2003. During his 32 years in aviation, he flew the T-38, T-37, T-43, KC-135, Boeing 737 and Air Bus 300. Jerry Don also served on the Searcy County Airport Board.
Jerry Don and Judy were very thankful they could return to their roots, especially since their children live in the same town and they could watch their grandchildren grow up in the same hometown setting. On New Year’s Day 1993, he began the preparations for his second career of farming, purchasing 266 acres of “forest” and turning it into a beautiful cattle farm. On December 16, 2000, Jerry Don accompanied by his son Brad, attended a sale at the court house where he bought a 320 acre Bear Creek farm from the Dewey and Letha (Ferguson) Massey estate. Jerry Don and Judy restored the Bear Creek Barn in 2002, which is photographed often. Jerry enjoyed baling hay and checking his cows.
In the summer of 1968 Jerry Don along with his cousins, Patricia “Bryan” Neel and John Dale Smith, were baptized at the Bird Hole in Bear Creek. Over the past 11 years, he established even more faith in the Lord, spending countless hours reading and studying the Bible, praying that the Lord would reveal to him what the Lord wanted him to know.
Jerry Don was preceded in death by his father, Beecher Smith.
Survivors include his wife Judy Diann (Clark) Smith, mother, Juanita Smith, daughter Sherry Jennings and husband Jeff, son Bradley Craig Smith and wife Amber, all of Marshall; two sisters, Gail Cypert and husband Eddie of Marshall and Gina White of Harrison; grandchildren, 3J Jennings, Jenae Jennings, Brody Smith, Kennedy Smith, Ellie Smith and Ava Ratchford; and a host of nieces, nephews and other family members.
Funeral services for Jerry Don will be 2:00 PM, Monday, December 22, 2014 at Roller-Coffman Funeral Home in Marshall, Arkansas with Brother Donnie Horton and Brother Sean Milliken officiating and special music by Donnie and Leota Chisum. Visitation will be 2:00 till 4:00 PM Sunday, December 21, 2014 in the Chapel. Burial will be in Marshall Memorial Gardens. Pallbearers will be Dusty Clark, Clint Cypert, Brent Clark, Caleb Clark, Jared Clark and Daniel Rodriques. Honorary pallbearers will be Johnny Neel, Charles Passmore, Donnie Henderson, Elton Smith, Ardith Smith and H.W. Taylor. In lieu of flowers, at the family’s request donations may be made to the Searcy County Hospice, 742 Airport Road, Marshall, AR 72650 or the Dongola Cemetery Fund.
Photo;
Annette Shaw
Contributed on 12/25/20 by hawkinsdonna48
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Record #: 1357249
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