Obituary of LTC Donald E. Smith

LTC Donald E. Smith (United States Army, Retired), a resident of Dothan, went to be with the Lord Wednesday, October 2, 2024. He was 86 years old. A celebration of life for Mr. Smith will be 2:00 P. M. Sunday, October 6, 2024, in the Chapel of Holman Funeral Home in Ozark with Pastor Buford Smith officiating. The family will receive friends Sunday at the funeral home in Ozark from 1:00 P.M. until service time. Full Military Honors will be presented at the funeral home following the service. LTC Smith will be laid to rest in Fort Mitchell National Veterans Cemetery. Don was born December 22, 1937 in Twin Falls, Idaho. He was the only child of the late Victor Earl Smith and Dorothy Elaine McFarland Smith. After several residences because of his fathers military service, Don grew up in Spokane, Washington where he and his mother lived with his grandparents, Archie R. and Claudia Mae Barnup McFarland until his father came home from the European Theater during World War II. Don graduated from North Central High School in Spokane in 1955 and the University of Idaho in 1960 with an Architectural Degree and a Regular Army Commission in Field Artillery. He was also a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. During a military career spanning over twenty-eight years, Don served in the United States Army, joint and combined command assignments throughout the continental United States, Europe and Vietnam. As a result, he earned medals for valor, meritorious service and multiple joint and service connected commendations. He received a Master of Science Degree in Logistics Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1977. One of his most talked about assignments was teaching at the University of UCLA. He retired in 1988 in Norfolk, Virginia where he was self-employed as an architectural design and logistics consultant. In 1990, during the first Gulf War, he was recruited and employed by the Raytheon Mideast Corporation as a Logistics Advisor to the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He then was a Logistics Engineer with the Truck and Bus Division of General Motors, Milford Proving Grounds in Michigan and finally in 1993 with the Clarksville Tennessee School System Transportation Department for 16 1/2 years. In addition to his parents, Don was preceded in death by his wife of 33 years, Kay Ford Smith; his son, Todd Smith and his grandparents. He is survived by his wife, Christine Tharpe Smith of Dothan; his loving daughters, Shelle Dawn Schooley of Dothan, Stacy Smith of Monaco-Ville, Monaco; one step-daughter that was never called step, Courtney Faighes (Gary) of Nashville, Tennessee, Astra Pentecost (Dylan) of Ozark; four grandchildren and two step grandchildren. Flowers will be accepted or memorials may be made in his memory to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Attn.: Memorial Giving, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105.