James Ray "Buster" Smith (Plainview)

James Ray “Buster” Smith, 70, of Plainview, passed away on Saturday, June 15, 2024. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 22, 2024, in the Kornerstone Funeral Directors Chapel with Paul Cypert as officiant. 

A public come-and-go viewing will be held at Kornerstone on Friday from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm. The family will not be in attendance. Please feel free to join us in person to pay your respects or send flowers to the funeral home.

Buster was born on May 7, 1954, in Plainview, Texas, to James and Nancy Smith, and graduated from Plainview High School in 1972. He attended WT University in Canyon, Texas, and graduated from welding school in Waco, Texas, in 1975. He owned and operated Smith Steel Construction for many years. His shop just north of Plainview was an endless well of creative problem-solving. 

He met Janet Elizabeth Young at a basketball game in 1977; he was the referee, and she was one of the players. They married a year later, in 1978, and had three children. Buster’s world was his wife, children, and grandkids, and they will greatly miss him. Buster had many friends and always made time for people. 

Buster was preceded in death by his father, James Smith, and his brother, Wesley Lynn Smith. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Janet Smith; three children, Lindy Pochucha, Matt Smith and wife Taylor Smith, of Lubbock, Texas, and Sam Smith of California; eight grandchildren; two sisters, Sheryl Dennis of Hooks, Texas, and Karla Morrison of Plainview, Texas; and his mother, Nancy Smith of Kim, Colorado.