Richard Lee Smith's Obituary
Richard Lee Smith was born December 22, 1957 to Patsy Southard Smith and Lee Roy Smith in Dallas, Texas. Surrounded by his family and friends at home he suddenly but peacefully passed away into the arms of the Lord on Sunday, May 15, 2011 after a long and courageous 3 year battle of cancer. Richard was preceded in death by his father, Lee Roy Smith, maternal grandmother and grandfather, James Franklin Southard and Patty Maxine Southard; paternal grandmother and grandfather, Clyde Thomas Smith and Evelyn Crouch; aunts, Jacqulyn Ross, Nita Smith and Maxine Cook and his uncle, Howard Charles “Buddy” Smith. Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife, Vickie Yates Smith of 13 years; son, Richard Kyle Smith, daughter, Lyndsey Delaine Smith; granddaughter, Charlotte Delaine Cook; mother, Patsy Smith Wells; stepfather, Richard Wells; sisters and brother-in-laws, Vickie and Darrell Compton and Tammi and Jeff Schmitt; sister, Ginger Smith; nieces, Leah (& Jim) Eason, Alexis Novey, Taylor and Jessi Schmitt; nephew, Brad (& Becca) Compton; great-nephews, Jace and Luke Eason and Austin and Cooper Compton, uncles, James (& Paulette) Southard, Bill (& Janice) Southard, Walter (& Linda Southard); father-in-law, Isaac Yates; several aunts, uncles, cousins and numerous friends. He will be dearly missed by his four-legged children, Costner, Chelsea and Cheyenne. Richard’s family will receive friends on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 from 6 to 8 pm at Restland Funeral Home. Service will be held on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 12:30 pm at Restland Funeral Home. Richard’s cousin, Bro. James Preston Southard, will be officiating. Richard attended Mesquite High School and Kilgore Jr. College before beginning his career in Insurance as an Adjuster, Claims Supervisor, Branch Manager and Agent. He was currently employed by Brush Country Claims. He grew up in Mesquite, Texas; later moved to Corpus Christi, Texas; back to Dallas and has lived in Lewisville, Texas for the last 14 years. All that knew and loved Richard know how he enjoyed life and understand why he fought so hard to beat his cancer. Everything that Richard enjoyed doing, he did with great enthusiasm. Richard was always a cowboy at heart. He enjoyed bull riding and riding horses when in high school. He was an avid sports fan always cheering on his Cowboys, Rangers, Stars and Mavericks and Nascar driver Jeff Gordon. He especially enjoyed his Fantasy Football League and his annual trip to the Las Vegas draft. His 1st year playing Fantasy Football won him a trip to Superbowl XXXIII in Miami, Florida. He enjoyed golf, fishing, hunting, shooting skeet, and playing pool. His 1st year playing pool his team, Last Call, won 1st place in Denton County 9 ball which won him a trip to Las Vegas to play in the National Finals in 2009. His trips to Las Vegas and to Shreveport were some of the best times that he had playing 3 Card Poker, Blackjack, Roulette and even slots. He loved his children dearly and always looked forward to their visits and spending time with them and sharing what was going on in their lives in South Texas. He was so excited about being a grandfather and happy to see her and to see how quickly she was growing. He loved his mom and step-father dearly and was the best son a mother could ever ask for. His sisters loved him dearly. He was the type of husband that any girl would hope to find. He was loving, fun, romantic and always a gentleman. He was the type of guy that all his friends were proud to know. He enjoyed spending time with his friends and family regardless what they were doing. Pallbearers will be Darrell Adkerson, Steve O’Rear, Ray Walton, Joe Martinez, Jeff Schmitt, Brad Compton and Jim Eason . Richard and his family want to thank Dr. Anil Bhogaraju and all the nurses at Lake Vista Cancer Center for their compassion and treatment of his Neuroendocrine Carcinoma for the last 3 years. Richard will be missed dearly by his family and friends and look forward to the day they can all be together again.
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