OWENSBORO, Ky. — Thomas Owen Smith was born to Dorothy Roach Smith and Rev. Duncan J. Smith in Paducah, Kentucky, Nov. 29, 1949. He died at Wellington Parc of Owensboro, Kentucky, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019.
Tom was a graduate of Daviess County High School and a member of Masonville Baptist Church.
Tom proudly served as a sailor in the United States Navy, appliance technician for Sears, a computer operator for Baptist Sunday School Board, and worked for AgriGro.
As an adult, Thomas lived in Key West, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Hartford, Kentucky; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Owensboro, Kentucky.
Thomas lived a hard and difficult life. His official diagnosis was a schizoaffective disorder. Far too often labels are used to define people, please do not use them to define people. People who have cancer are not cancer. People who have kidney disease are more than kidney disease. People with mental illness are more than their diagnosis. Tom was much more than these labels of his disease.
Tom was a caring and loving man who struggled after his honorable medical discharge from the Navy. Tom was a unique and talented man who liked to write poetry and looked at things in new and creative ways. He was a great problem solver. He enjoyed photography, drawing, cars, and working with his hands. Tom had a sneaky sense of humor and enjoyed a good laugh. He enjoyed family meals and celebrating life at family gatherings.
He was preceded in death by his parents; second mother, Jamie Lois Smith, and two brothers, Carroll Lewis Smith and James Kennedy Smith.
He is survived by three sisters, Beth and husband, Kimbrough Simmons, of Guthrie, Kentucky, Ima Danks, of Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and Margie and husband, Maurice Thompson, of Austin, Texas; sister-in-law, Dana and husband, Larry Edmondson, of Utica, Kentucky; brother, Joe and wife, Ada Dorris, of Lewisburg, Kentucky; and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, at William L. Danks Funeral Home in Beaver Dam with Rev. Ben White and Rev. Kimbrough Simmons officiating. Burial will follow in Oakwood Cemetery in Hartford, Kentucky. Friends may visit with Tommy’s family from 11 a.m. until the time of the service Saturday at the funeral home.
The family requests expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to, Masonville Baptist Church Community Garden Ministry, 6601 Hwy 231, Utica, KY 42376.
Online condolences may be left for the family of Thomas Owen Smith by visiting his memorial page at www.danksfuneralhome.com.