Napoleon Smith

Napoleon Smith, 83, was born October 3, 1940, of the late James Smith and Glendora Hatchett-Smith.  He was born and raised in North Little Rock Arkansas in the community of Marche.  He graduated form Pulaski County Training School in 1960.  He was initially drawn to the profession of cooking, and was very good at it. Both of his parents enjoyed laughter and thus it became a family trait in that the household was always full of laughter.  His enjoyment of cooking came out of the fact that he was not a proficient cotton picker nor was physical labor one of his favorite past times either.  As a result, he stayed in the kitchen helping his Mama.  Of course, the benefits of tasting the food before the rest of the family was also enticing to him.  His barbecue skills were developed during his teen years.

In 1963 he left Arkansas and traveled to Chicago IL to be with his 3 brothers and a cousin.  It was there that he found his dream job which was being a Sky Cap and servicing airline passengers.  He had a love for servicing others.  He also developed a love for traveling which he could then afford based on free airfare.

He was extremely adaptable and when his airline went bankrupt he mastered welding and became employed at Ford Motors where he worked on the assembly line as a welder.  When his former airline company emerged from bankruptcy he returned to the airline,  When the airline went back into bankruptcy he formed his own company of Sky Caps and worked there as an entrepreneur until he retired.

He was preceded in death by two brothers James Smith Jr. and Floyd Smith, and his only sister Alma Jean Smith.

Napoleon leaves to mourn his memory: His loving wife Gwen, his daughters Juaria (Scott) Snipes and Shanna Youman, Son Stacey Sneed. Three adoring granddaughters Shauntel Lofton, JauVana Cole and Uniqua Cole. 4 Great grandchildren , all from Mayfield KY. He also left behind 3 Brothers; Edward Smith of Sherwood, AR, Nathaniel (Rosalyn) Smith of San Diego, CA, and Clifton (Verbie) Smith of Chicago, IL.  A full cadre of nephews and nieces. Notable among them are the children of his sister Alma Jean. Who asked him to take care of her children as she dealt with a serious illness. Which of course he did, to the best of his ability.  They were Troy, Carol, Maurice, Marcus, Grover Lesia and Michael.  He would also always mention his niece Sharon who was known for baking chess pies for him. There are also countless cousins and friends that knew and loved him.