Thomas Edward Smith
Thomas Edward Smith of North Las Vegas Nevada passed away at his home due to natural causes on August 26th, 2016.
Thomas was born on April 10th, 1943 in Salt Lake City Utah. His parents were Leah Lisle Daniels Hanson (Smith) and George Winston Smith. He grew up with two older brothers; Barney and Winston as well as a sister, Patricia.
He was a mechanic most of his life, and loved to work with his hands. From a very young age he was always tearing things apart to figure out how they worked, and sometimes getting in trouble for doing so. He especially loved heavy equipment and big trucks, and it was his lifelong dream to own and operate a ready mix company. He got close to realizing that dream, but it never quite fell into place. Whether taking apart mechanical items at his desk at home, or working on heavy machinery at a construction site, not much slowed him down.
Tom was especially proud of his time served in the Army and Army Reserve. He served in Korea and also Stateside. His unit was responsible for petroleum supply and support. He worked on and drove the trucks that kept the other units going. I believe the best times were when they had operations in the desert and he participated in some wargames. One story he related was when he actually captured the enemy base with just his fuel truck. He was pretty proud of that, it made him laugh whenever he related it. Tom earned multiple certificates and an honorable discharge from the unit he served in so faithfully.
He lived in several states during his life, including Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Tom always loved the outdoors, growing up in Cache Valley and spending lots of time at the roller rink, ice skating at Central Park in the winter time, and skiing at Beaver Mountain. Bear Lake was always a favorite place for camping. He loved camping no matter where he lived, and tried to camp and fish as much as possible.
Thomas was ordained a Priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, although he was not an active member for most of his later life. He continued to profess to be a member of the Mormon church until his death, and I believe he had faith that he would be reunited with those loved ones who had already passed.
Tom is survived by his son, Sean Jason Smith, daughter in-law Anissa Quilter Smith, and three grandchildren; Jason Michael Smith, Brandy Nicole Smith and Madison Charlotte Smith, all of Vancouver, WA. He is also survived by his brother Barney Smith and sister Patricia Hale, both of whom still live in the SLC area. He was preceded in death by his brother Winston McClair Smith.
There will be a memorial service in North Las Vegas, followed by a service and internment in Logan, Utah. A memorial fund has been established by the family, and more information on the services is available. Please email sean@smithwa.com for details.