HOWARD SMITH
McDONOUGH – Howard Smith, 85 of McDonough formerly of New Berlin and Oxford passed away at the NYS Veterans’ Home, Oxford on June 2, 2015. He was born on December 24, 1929 in New Berlin the son of Harold and Ruth (Wright) Smith. On April 16, 1955 he married Annabelle Milbert, who survives.
Besides his wife of 60 years, Annabelle he is survived by his children, Tommy and Donna Smith, Timmy and Tracey Smith; his grandchildren, Joshua Smith, Jessica and Kevin Verbec, Ronald and Rachel Metherell, Tiffany Smith and friend Will Sabines, Timmy Smith, Jr, Dustin Smith, Damian Smith and Dominick Smith; and his great grandchildren, Jude Verbec and Adalynn Williams.
Howard was a graduate of New Berlin High School. He was a US Army veteran of the Korean War and a member of Forth Hill Post #376, American Legion. He was a member of the Oxford Lions Club since 1967, served as District Governor of District 20Y1, multiple districts of New York and Bermuda from 1974-1975. He was recently honored with the Outstanding Lifetime Membership Award by the Oxford Lions Club. He was the founder of the Oxford Lions Club Horsepull. He loved training his horses for pulling and was a member of the NYS Horsepuller’s Association and the Southern Draft Horse Association. He volunteered as a wrestling coach for Oxford Academy and Central School for 25 years. He had worked at GLA in Norwich prior to becoming and agent for Farm Family Insurance, where he retired in 1995.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 2:00 PM at Faith Bible Church, Butler St., Oxford with Rev. Norman Holtz and Rev. Josh Rathmell officiating. Friends may call at Faith Bible Church on Saturday from noon until the time of the service. Burial will be in Burlington Flats Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oxford Lions Club, PO Box 97, Oxford, NY 13830 for local use.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Behe Funeral Home, 21 Main St., Oxford, NY. Friends and family may share their memories and condolences by visiting www.behefuneralhome.com.