Funeral services for Phillip Marion “Phil” Smith will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, April 27, 2014 at the Chapel of Davis Morris Funeral Home with burial to follow at Cedar Point Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Saturday, April 26, 2014, at Davis Morris Funeral Home.
Phil was well known in Brownwood for his more than 32 years as a letter carrier with the Post Office. He knew the customers on his route well and enjoyed interacting with them every day.
Phil was born in Kansas City, Missouri to Lois and Frank Marion Smith on June 25, 1945. He grew up in the Kansas City suburb of Raytown along with his sister, Peggy Moore, who now lives in May, TX. Phil attended the University of Missouri at Rolla. When his family purchased the Western Auto franchise in Brownwood, Phil transferred and began attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock where he met his closest, life-long friend J.R. Kinnard of Austin, TX. Phil was drafted in 1968 but chose to join the U.S. Navy. Because he was the assistant to an admiral on the aircraft carrier Midway during the Vietnam War, Phil liked to say that he fought the war with a typewriter.
After being honorably discharged from the Navy, Phil returned to Brownwood and met his wife of forty years, Joy Beth (Churchwell) Smith. Joy was his loving and devoted caregiver for the final nine months of Phil’s life after he suffered a heart attack in July 2013.
Phil was a Deacon at Central Baptist Church for many years. He was also the Music Director and listening to him practice his Sunday morning special music on the piano in their home is one of the fondest memories of his family.
The two children that Phil and Joy were blessed with, Lee and Nelson, were the center of their world. Phil and Joy were dedicated and supportive parents. Lee is now an attorney and resides in Hobbs, New Mexico with her husband Patrick Kirksey and their two children, Nate and Olivia. Nelson, who is now a police officer, resides in Pflugerville, Texas with his wife Christie and their two sons, Clint and Logan.
To say that Phil doted on his grandchildren doesn’t do justice to describing his love for them. Whether it was taking Olivia for rides in the 1923 T-bucket Phil and Nelson built, cheering for Clint during mutton busting at the rodeo, spinning on the Tea Cups at Disneyland with Nate, or photographing Logan running up the soccer field, Phil and Joy were there to do everything with their grandchildren. A better Granddad than Phil Smith has not been created.
Phil’s family would love to share memories of him with friends at the visitation to be held on Saturday, April 26, 2014, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Davis Morris Funeral Home.
Arrangements under the direction of Davis-Morris Funeral Home, Brownwood, TX.
