LARRY JOSEPH SMITH

Wednesday, May 11, 2011
SMITH

Larry Joseph Smith, 69, former resident of Fort Scott, died Monday, May 9, 2011, at St. John's Hospital in Tulsa, Okla. He was born July 8, 1941, in Fort Scott, the son of Kenneth and Maxine Drake Smith.

Larry was a 1959 graduate of Fort Scott High School where he excelled in Tiger football.

He attended Fort Scott Community College and Pittsburg State University prior to earning his degree from Texas Christian University in 1964.

He returned to work for the Western Insurance Company with his first assignment in Liberal, Kan.

There he met his wife, Jackie Haight, and they were married on Oct. 11, 1964, in Tyrone, Okla.

He attended the University of Tulsa College of Law at night and received his Juris Doctor degree in 1969.

In 1974, the couple moved to the home office in Fort Scott. They transferred to Fort Wayne, Ind., in January of 1988.

Following retirement in 1996, they moved back to Tulsa where he established a solo law practice.

He served four years as state representative for the Parkinson Action Network prior to retirement from his law practice due to health.

He was a member of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, and the Kansas and Oklahoma bar associations.

Survivors include his wife, Jackie, of the home in Owasso, Okla.; two sons, Barrett "Brett" Smith and wife Elnora, Plano, Texas, and Berkeley Smith, Conway, Ark.

Also surviving is a brother, Randy K. Smith, Overland Park, Kan., and a sister Margy Downey and husband Dick, Olathe, Kan.; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Rev. Darlene Johnson will conduct funeral services at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the Fort Scott United Methodist Church.

Burial will follow in Evergreen Cemetery under the direction of Cheney Witt Chapel.

The family will receive friends from 1:30 p.m. until service time at the church.

Memorials are suggested to the Parkinson Action Network and may be sent to Cheney Witt Chapel, P.O. Box 347, Fort Scott, Kan. 66701.

Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.