Steve D. Smith

Paducah, Ky. - The funeral service for Steve D. Smith, 53, Paducah, Ky., formerly of Mansfield, S.D., is 11 a.m. Saturday, April 7, 2007, at Mansfield Presbyterian Church, with Pastor Jon Damaska officiating. Burial will follow at Warner Township Cemetery. Steve died in Marshall County, Ky., in an ATV accident on Sunday, April 1. Visitation is 5-7 p.m. Friday at Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home, 1111 S. Main St., Aberdeen, and one hour prior to the funeral at the church. Steven Darel Smith was born on Sept. 15, 1953, to Darel and Arlys (Koester) Smith at Aberdeen, S.D. Steve graduated Northwestern High School, Mellette, S.D., in 1971. He went on to graduate from Lake Area Vocational Technical School in Watertown, S.D., in 1973 and attended School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, S.D. Following graduation, he worked for his uncle and grandfather at Koester's of Mansfield. He also worked at Braun Trucking, North Central Harvesters, Harley Davidson of Rapid City, and worked on a sizemegraph crew which took him to Kentucky in 1984. Upon arrival in Kentucky, he immediately went to work for a large Toyota dealership in Paducah, now known as Mike Smith Toyota. He worked as a technician and quickly became “Master Tech,” and known as one of the best in the region. His perfection was evident by consistently having the top score on Master Tech tests in the Cincinnati region. Steve married Wilma “Cricket” May on Nov. 14, 1998. Steve was a member of Mansfield Presbyterian Church. The passions of his life were his family, friends and, of course, racing. Steve made semi-annual trips back to his home in South Dakota. One of the two trips each year was to be with his family at their annual camping trip in the Black Hills. The second was to spend a week with his family and longtime friends at Christmas time. His relationship with his family and friends was of utmost importance to him, so the distance to South Dakota was no issue. Making that extra effort to reinforce his family bonds was simply second nature. Grateful for having shared his life are his wife, Wilma “Cricket,” Paducah, Ky.; parents, Darel and Arlys Smith, Mansfield; son, Josh Helm, Mayfield, Ky.; two grandchildren, Nikki Thompson and Cody Clay Weaks, both of Paducah; siblings, Carol McKenzie, Piedmont, S.D., Curtis (Mary) Smith, Rapid City, and Julie (Gary) Townsend, Sioux Falls; siblings-in-law, Robert (Jan) Clymber, Larry (Pat) Clymber, Doris (Jim) Richards, Dawanna Massie, and Leonard (Patsy) May; 26 nieces and nephews; and cats, Smoke and Ginseng (deceased). Continued from Page 6A