Richard Milton Smith

Richard Milton Smith of Johnson City, Tennessee, passed away unexpectedly following a brief illness at the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Monday, October 20, 2025.
Richard was a native of Worthington, Minnesota, before retiring to Johnson City in 2017. He was the son of the late George Joseph Smith, Jr., and Esther Midred Anderson Smith. Richard is Vietnam veteran who proudly served his country as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army.
Shortly after marrying his wife, Pauline Mary Smith, the couple moved to Alaska where he worked on the Granite Point platform once operated by Shell Oil Company off the coast of Kenai, Alaska. The couple returned to Minnesota where they had a small farm until an oil and gas job opportunity led them to Claremore, Oklahoma. He was instrumental in transporting pipes and other materials across the nation until the oil and gas collapse in the late 1980s. He relied upon his experience as a firearms instructor through the military working in Law Enforcement as a Police Officer until he retired in 1996 after more than twenty years of service with the Claremore Police Department. For the next five years, Richard worked as a Chief Boiler Operator at Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company in Benson, Minnesota.
He enjoyed the outdoors, working in the yard, hunting moose, fishing and especially riding horses.
Richard was a member of Living Word Lutheran Church, Gray, Tennessee.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his two sisters, Mary Jean Christianson and Karen Garber.
Richard is survived by his loving wife of fifty-seven years; two children, Shawn Milton Smith and wife Cindy, Redmond, Oregon, and Sheri Andre Keenan and husband Kenneth, Johnson City; three grandchildren, Kamryn Rae Keenan, Charleston, South Carolina, Sydnee Kathleen Keenan, Middleton, Wisconsin, and Jonathan Stuart Keenan, Johnson City; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
There will be a graveside service celebrating his life at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 31, 2025, at the Historic Site of Mountain Home National Cemetery, with Pastor Andrew Steubs, officiating. Military honors will be accorded by the United States Army Funeral Honors Team assisted by the Veterans Honor Guard of the Tri-Cities. Inurnment will follow in the cemetery's Annex. Those planning to attend are to meet at the Historic Site of the cemetery by 1:50 P.M.
Memorial contributions may be made in honor of Richard to the Pulmonary Hypertension Association & Research at www.phassociation.org To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Richard Milton Smith, please visit our floral store.