Earl Smith Jr.
April 2, 1940-Oct. 4, 2022
Earl Smith Jr. of Wingate passed away Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 4, 2022, at Franciscan Health Crawfordsville. He was 82.
Mr. Smith was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Wingate, which later merged into the New Richmond Lodge. He was a 50-year member and Past Master. In addition, he was a member of the Scottish Rite, as well as the Crawfordsville Elks. He served many years with Montgomery County 4-H, Inc. particularly as supervisor of the swine barn. He was named Outstanding Young Farmer in 1968 by the Jaycees. He spent his entire adult life farming, first in Benton County and then moving to the Wingate area in 1953, where he’s lived ever since.
He served as a director for Montgomery County Farm Bureau and was a member of the New Hope Chapel in Wingate. He earned a pilot’s license in the 1980s and purchased a plane in 1982. He loved to fly and gave people rides to the Farm Progress Show in Rochester and in Illinois. He very much enjoyed square dancing and ballroom dancing.
Born April 2, 1940, at Otterbein, he was the son of Earl W. Smith and Lillie Eckart Smith. He graduated from Coal Creek Central High School in 1959. He married Karon Smith on April 1, 1961, at the Pleasant Hill Chapel in Wingate. She survives.
Surviving family includes: wife Karon Smith of Wingate; two sons, Mark (Elizabeth) Smith of Manchester, Tennessee, and Brian (Rhonda) Smith of Wingate; three grandchildren, Tyler (Sabrina) Smith of Ohio, Lydia (Mike) Aspatore of Crawfordsville and Katelyn Smith of Ohio; three great-grandsons, Lincoln, Lorenzo Smith and Ian Aspatore; and sister Erthie Steiner of Fowler.
He was preceded in death by his parents; grandson Dylan Smith; and four sisters, Geraldine Kenoyer, Lorella Cady, Wilma Smith and Carol Titus.
Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7 at Family and Friends Funeral Home in Wingate. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the funerla home, with Steve Wilson officiating. After the service, he will be laid to rest at Oakland Cemetery, near Elmdale.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in memory of Earl Smith be made to Hopes and Promises Preschool at New Hope Chapel in Wingate or to your favorite charity.
Online condolences may be made by visiting familyandfriendsfh.com.
