Jerry Clyde Smith

IN  LOVING  MEMORY  OF

Jerry Clyde Smith

September 18, 1930 — April 23, 2019

GRAVESIDE  SERVICE

Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

Belmont Memorial Park

201 N. Teilman, Fresno, California

CELEBRATION  OF  LIFE

Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 11:30 a.m.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

5431 N. Maroa, Fresno, California

RELATIVES

Wife:  Katina LaBerge Smith

Wife:  Joyce Marylin Smith (deceased)

Daughter:  Cynthia L. Martinez

Son:  Rodney M. Smith

Son:  Kreig C. Smith

Son:  Russell R. Smith

Granddaughter:  Chrishna Holdaway

Granddaughter:  Kathleen Russler

Granddaughter:  Candace Martinez

Granddaughter:  Marilyn Jolley

Grandson:  Matthew Smith

Granddaughter:  Chelsy Walker

Grandson:  Camron Smith

Granddaughter:  Anna Ferrin

Granddaughter:  Karlin Rasmussen

Grandson:  Jared Smith

Grandson:  Samuel Smith

Granddaughter:  Joylin Smith

Grandson: Ian Smith

Great Granddaughter:  Alana Holdaway

Great Grandson:  KC Holdaway

Great Granddaughter:  Aurora Holdaway

Great Granddaughter:  Nia Russler

Great Grandson:  Kevin Russler

Great Granddaughter:  Eve Russler

Great Granddaughter:  Greta Russler

Great Grandson:  Grant Russler

Great Granddaughter:  Nikki Russler

Great Granddaughter:  Kate Russler

Great Granddaughter:  Fiona Russler

Great Granddaughter:  Mia Martinez

Great Grandson:  Damon Harris

Great Grandson:  Braden Jolley

Great Granddaughter:  Kaitlyn Jolley

Great Grandson:  Benson Smith

Great Grandson:  Wyatt Smith

Great Grandson:  Landon Smith

Great Grandson:  Alden Walker

Great Granddaughter:  Ella Walker

Great Grandson:  Murphy Smith

Great Grandson:  Gideon Smith

Great Granddaughter:  Naomi Ferrin

Great Granddaughter:  Cora Ferrin

Brother:  Dale H. Smith

Sister:  Marianne Smith (deceased)

O  MY  FATHER

by Eliza R. Snow

O my Father, thou that dwellest

In the high and glorious place,

When shall I regain thy presence

And again behold thy face?

In thy holy habitation,

Did my spirit once reside?

In my first primeval childhood,

Was I nurtured near thy side?

For a wise and glorious purpose

Thou has placed me here on earth

And withheld the recollection

Of my former friends and birth;

Yet oft times a secret something

Whispered, “You’re a stranger here,”

And I felt that I had wandered

From a more exalted sphere.

I had learned to call thee Father,

Thru thy Spirit from on high,

But, until the key of knowledge

Was restored, I knew not why.

In the heav’ns are parents single?

No, the thought makes reason stare!

Truth is reason; truth eternal

Tells me I’ve a mother there.

When I leave this frail existence,

When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you

In your royal courts on high?

Then, at length, when I’ve completed

All you sent me forth to do,

With your mutual approbation

Let me come and dwell with you.

OBITUARY

Jerry C. Smith, age 88, died in Clovis California, April 23, 2019, of complications from pneumonia. He was a resident of Fresno since 1962 at his home on 565 W. Calimyrna Avenue. The dedication of grave will be held on Saturday, May 4th, 2019, at 10:00 am at Belmont Memorial Park, 201 N Teilman Ave., Fresno California 93706. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 4th, 2019, 11:30 am, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5431 N. Maroa, Fresno, California 93704. He was born in Placerville, California on September 18, 1930, to Muriel Harbor and Orville Smith. Jerry was an accomplished musician who graduated from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He taught music and driver education in the Fresno Unified School District for 32 years. He was the Band Director at Selma High School and Bullard High School in the early 1960s. He created a Jazz Band at Bullard High School which resulted in a professional album. He packed cantaloupes in the summer throughout the Central San Joaquin Valley. He played for 30 years as the principal oboist for the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. Jerry also participated in many music organizations such as: Fresno Community Band, various Quartets, local Veterans bands, Friday Phil, etc. He also played his instruments with many other bands and groups such as the Johnny Matisso Band, special performers including Nate King Cole, Harry Belafonte and Vikki Carr. He was proud of his service in the Army as part of the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra who played in Europe during the Korean War. He loved camping in the mountains and at his property in the High Sierras. He loved to garden and he kept a manicured yard with beautiful rock planters, grapevines, trees (including fruit trees), and a Japanese garden with a lovely Koi pond. Jerry was constantly working. He would never sit and talk. If you wanted to communicate with him, you had to work alongside him. He was always busy. Jerry was married to his first wife, Joyce Marylin Davis, for 42 years, who preceded him in death. Together he and Joyce raised and enjoyed 4 wonderful children with whom they had an active loving relationship. He is survived by his current wife, Katina LaBerge-Smith, and his children Cynthia Martinez, Rodney Smith, Kreig Smith, and Russell Smith. He has 13 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren. Jerry Smith was a musician, educator, and visual artist. His children witnessed his music abilities many times as he played concerts, band performances, church music (including the Messiah at First Presbyterian Church in Fresno) and home instruction lessons. His playing and instruction included Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet, Saxophone and Flute. Jerry majored in music education and acquired a minor in art at Arizona State University. His surviving visual works of art are genuine and beautiful. Jerry loved dogs. He always had one or two small dogs around the house to both entertain and to be entertained. He loved to tease them and feed them scraps off his kitchen plate. Nevertheless, he had a love-hate relationship with squirrels, birds and any small mammal that might try to steal his precious grape harvest or black berries. He would feed these animals in the dark days of winter and then play a cat and mouse game of dissuading them from consuming the fruits of his garden labor in the summer. This may even include the use his favorite pellet gun as a deterrent. Jerry enjoyed talking to anyone. Many times we would find him stalled in a grocery or hardware store talking to someone he just met. He freely shared his life experiences and the list of current projects that occupied his time. Jerry had a unique ingenious mechanical ability to repair anything. When someone wanted an item repaired or fixed, they brought it to Jerry. He would undertake the item to be repaired as a challenge and was always successful. The downside to being the “go to” repair person is that the repairer keeps lots of tools and items to be fixed around because he is going to repair or “fix them” someday. He passed the “fix it” gift to a few of his children. Jerry loved nature. In the mountains, he showed a different side. He slowed down a little. He played music around the campfire, shared stories and poems he learned in his youth, and nursed the trees and meadow like a garden. He would play his flute at dusk, and all the family, and neighbors would listen to the music resonate throughout the meadow. One of our enduring memories of our dad, is all of us, laying in sleeping bags, staring into a star filled night, while listening to him play soul-filled music on his flute, as it enveloped the meadow, the trees, and even seemed to reach the stars. In his later years, Jerry enjoyed traveling and going on cruises to various places with his last wife Katina. We will miss our friend, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather. We know he will be at peace in the next life.

“May God touch you

with His healing hand

and give you the peace and comfort

you need to get through.”

Anon.

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