Gene Smith

Gene Smith, 97, of Newton, died Saturday (May 29, 2010) at the Kansas Christian Home in Newton.

O. Eugene Smith was born November 27, 1912 (Thanksgiving Day) in Craig, Mo, the son of Oscar W. and Magdalena Catherine Vedder Smith. He said he interrupted Thanksgiving dinner and he was given and kept the roaster the turkey was baking in when he arrived.

His mother died on Christmas Day, 1914, in Newton, Kansas, when Gene was two years old. After her death, Gene lived with aunts, uncles, and his grandparents in Oklahoma and Kansas for several years. When he was nine, his stepmother’ s sister and her husband (Babe and George Richley of Wichita) who had no children, asked if Gene could live with them. They became his foster parents until their deaths long after he was married and had his own children and grandchildren.

Gene’ s foster dad was in the printing business. After Gene’ s sophomore year in a Wichita high school, he left school and entered the printing business alongside George Richley. He left the printing business for a few years during the depression and drove a hay truck to western Kansas for a Sedgwick farmer. It was then that he met a Sedgwick girl named Maxine Harper. They were married August 8, 1935.

He returned to the printing business as a pressman and worked at McCormick-Armstrong Printing in Wichita for 43 years. After retirement from McCormick-Armstrong he continued working at The Wichita Eagle-Beacon, printing the Sunday edition on Saturday nights, until he was 77 years old. Both of Gene’ s son’ s followed him into the printing business.

When Gene retired from his part-time work at The Eagle, he started spending time with his long-time friend Harold “ Jake” Jacobson at Jacobson’ s antique store, Poor Kate’ s. He and Jake had fun finding and repairing antiques for sale. While working at Poor Kate’ s he built a charcoal-fired cooker large enough to roast two whole hogs. His daughter and late son-in-law, Elizabeth and Jim Reber, used the cooker for an annual pig roast at their farm west of Newton.

Gene commuted to work in Wichita from first Sedgwick and then Newton. At home in Sedgwick he had a large vegetable garden, whose produce Maxine and the family canned. In Newton he continued to maintain his house and yard and work in his shop well into his 90s.

He had many hobbies. Gene and Maxine spent several years on the Salvation Army board of directors. He enjoyed his Model T and Model A automobiles. He was an avid sportsman throughout his life - hunting, fishing, golfing, playing pool and bowling. He even tried his hand at wine-making.

Gene Smith was a jack-of-all-trades. He was always ready, willing, and able to fix things for his family. When his kids or grandkids broke something or had something that wouldn’ t work, they turned to “gramps” to fix it. Whether it was woodworking, welding, automotive repair, plumbing, or electrical, Gene successfully tackled it. He was an early recycler, taking discarded implement parts and broken garden tools, designing, creating and welding them into his “ gooney” bird, flamingo, and sunflower yard art.

In retirement, Gene and Maxine, joined friends for morning coffee at K-Mart, McDonald’s, and Burger King. Even after Maxine’ s death and until about a year ago, Gene and his daughter Elizabeth regularly joined his friends for coffee at Burger King. For many years Gene and Maxine met with another group of friends met at Newton’ s Coffee Pot Restaurant, until it closed, to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions.

He was a long-time member of the First United Methodist Church in Newton, becoming a member of Newton’ s First Christian Church in the late 1990s. He was a member of the Newton Masonic Lodge #142 and a loyal member of the Harvey County Shrine Club. He received his 25-year Shriner pin just days before his death from the Midian Shrine.

O. Eugene Smith was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 73 years, L. Maxine Harper Smith, his youngest son, Orville of Warsaw, Mo., and brother J. O. Smith of St. Joseph, Mo.

He is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth A. Reber of Newton, his son George Smith of Dallas, Texas, 10 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 3:00 P.M., Tuesday (June 1, 2010) at the First Christian Church in Newton. Interment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery in Newton with Masonic Committal Services by the Newton Masonic Lodge #142, A.F. & A. M.

Friends may call at the funeral home Monday 1pm til 9pm, where the family will receive friends 7pm til 8:30pm.

A memorial has been established with the Midian Shrine Plane of Mercy and the First Christian Church, contributions may be sent to Broadway Colonial Funeral Home, 120 E. Broadway, Newton, KS.