RITES FOR REV. W. D. SMITH OF KENNARD HELD

Had Resided In Kennard, Retiring From Active Service In 1921

Rev. William Daniel Smith, resident of Kennard since October 12, 1921, died on Monday evening, June 28, at Methodist Hospital in Omaha. Funeral services are conducted at the Kennard Methodist Church last Thursday afternoon, July 1, at two o’clock with Rev. David Simpson of Arlington in charge. Rev. Walker C. Kelly of Broken Bow, Nebraska gave the address; also officiating at the rites were Rev. J. Bruce Wylie of Hooper and Rev. W. A. Bowdin of Osmond, both close friends of the late Rev. Smith.

The ministers stood as guard of honor at the casket following the services. Rev. and Mrs. Simpson, accompanied by Mrs. Irene Jansen at the piano, sang several duets. Pallbearers were Ralph E. Fairchild and H. Lyle Guyer of Blair; Andrew Fowler, Henry Lautrop, Roscoe and Ray Rosenbaum of Kennard.

The body was taken to Webster City, Iowa for burial in the family plot on Friday. Brief graveside services are conducted there by Rev. W. Don Crewdson.

The youngest son of John R. and Elizabeth Smith, Rev. Smith was born in Owsley County, Kentucky on November 6, 1876. His father died of Civil War injuries when he was three years of age, and he was left an orphan at the age of eleven when his mother died. He suffered the usual life of an orphan of that day and age, being knocked about from place to place.

He attended Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, graduating as orator of his class in 1904. He was then licensed as a local preacher in Kentucky and supplied charges while in school there. In 1903 he was ordained a deacon in the Kentucky Conference.

Following his graduation, he came to Nebraska as a minister at the urging of his old school friend, Rev. Walker C. Kelly. His first charge was Wood River. In 1912 he returned to Kentucky where he served as press agent for Berea College, and later he declined an offer to serve in the same capacity for Lincoln Memorial Institute, Harrogate, Tennessee. Instead, he accepted the chair of theology at Union College, Barbourville, Kentucky where he was also assistant to the president of the college.

He returned to Nebraska and was ordained an Elder in the Northwest Nebraska Conference in 1917. He united with the old North Nebraska Conference, later transferring to the Northwest Conference. He served at Wood River, Brunswick, Emerick, Hay Springs, Newport, Page, Dixon, North Bend and Kennard.

He moved to Kennard in 1921, retiring from active service in 1925.

Rev. Smith had been in poor health for the past seven years, although he had felt much better this spring. He became ill quite suddenly on Saturday evening and was taken to the Methodist Hospital where he died a short time later.

On August 8, 1906 Rev. Smith was united in marriage to Charlotte Lola Hoag of Sioux city, Iowa. To their union a child, Lola Elizabeth, now Mrs. Victor Nordgreen of Sioux City, was born. The widow and daughter survive, together with a brother, John Ransom Smith of Station Camp, Kentucky, and several nieces and nephews. Two nephews, Charles and Ray Smith of Hamilton, Iowa attended the funeral services; others were unable to be present because of transportation difficulties.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska Public Library~~~

Find a Grave Memorial #55499912