E. Holmes Smart Jr.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2026, at 10:45 am at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home in Lafayette, Louisiana for Ernest Holmes Smart, Jr., 100, who passed away on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center in Lafayette.

Visitation will be observed at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home in Lafayette on Saturday, March 28, 2026, from 8:30 am until time of service.

A private inurnment will follow the Memorial Service at Fountain Memorial Cemetery in Lafayette.

Dr. Steve Horn, Executive Director at Louisiana Baptists, of Alexandria, Louisiana, will officiate.

Ernest Holmes Smart, Jr., was born May 21, 1925, in Lietchfield, Kentucky, and was a resident of Lafayette since 1956. Holmes graduated from Mt. Sterling High School in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky in 1943. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1949 with a B.S degree in Geology. Holmes served in the Navy during World War II.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky, Holmes began his career in Houston with Gulf Oil, later moving to Lake Charles and finally to Lafayette. Over the years, he worked for several oil companies and as an Independent Geologist, and for the last 30 years was a Consulting Geologist, largely as an expert witness representing clients before the Louisiana Office of Conservation. His declining eyesight and the declining oil industry caused him to cease practicing after 70 years in the business. He felt blessed to find a profession which brought him to Lake Charles, where he met his love and wife, Jean Aberle Smart, was interesting and challenging, and where he met and made so many truly good friends. For many years, he could be found routinely having lunch at one of the "round tables" at the Lafayette Petroleum Club with several of them.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife and best friend of 56 years, Jean Aberle Smart; his parents, Ernest Holmes Smart, Sr. and Delyla West Smart, and his sister, Virginia Bramblet. Holmes is survived by his sons, David Smart and his wife, Jennifer, and Thomas Smart; his daughter, Anna Howard and her husband, David; his grandchildren, Jordan Smart and his fiancée, Emilee Goss, Jennie Forbes and her husband, Chase, Samuel Garland and his fiancée, Kaycee Pickering, and Alexandra Howard; his great grandchildren, Kendall Elizabeth Forbes and Grace Garrett Forbes; and his nieces and nephews, Lyla Ruth Brown, Bill Bramblet, Patrick Gallaugher, Jr., Kevin Gallaugher, Adele Gallaugher Wallace, and Michael Gallaugher.

He was a longstanding member of the Lafayette First Baptist Church, various professional organizations and past board member of the Lafayette Petroleum Club. When his children were young, he was active in supporting their interests and activities, including sports, Boy Scouts, PTA, debate and the advisory board at Grand Coteau Academy of Sacred Heart. Having grown up during the Great Depression working on the farm with his dad from an early age, he constantly had a home improvement, addition or repair project he was working on.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Mike Alexander and Dr. James Dobbs, and their respective staffs, for their excellent care over the many years, and the nurses and staff at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center for the excellent, kind and compassionate care given to Holmes during his final illness. The family also wishes to thank the staff at Garden View Assisted Living in Lafayette for their care and kindness and for making him feel at "home" these past few years.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Holmes's name to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation at PO Box 515 Northampton, MA 01061-0515, 1-888-622-8527, macular.org.

Online obituary and guest book may be viewed at www.fountainmemorialfuneralhome.com.

Fountain Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery, 1010 Pandora St. 337-981-7098 is in charge of arrangements.