James D. Smith

     James D. Smith  75, of Rumsey, Kentucky went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, August 29, 2021 at the Heartford House in Owensboro.  James Dudley Smith was born April 23, 1946 in Santa Barbara, California to the late James Francis and Carolyn Alta Brown Smith.  James spent the majority of his childhood growing up in California.  Around 1963, at the age of 17 his family moved to Ashmore, Illinois where he met his lifelong sweetheart and soulmate, the former Shirley Ann Bradford and they were married in February of 1964.  Shortly thereafter, they moved back to California and settled in Goleta, California where they raised three children and lived for 42 years.  James worked at Goleta Union School District then went on to open his own mechanic shop, Stewart Brothers Automotive and in 1991 went on to FLIR Engineering, where he retired in 2008.  After retirement, James and Shirley then moved to Kentucky where they are members of Calhoun Baptist Church.  James was a hero to his family, who greatly adored him and he was dearly loved by many other family members and friends.

     Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Shirley Smith; a son, James S. “Jimmy” Smith of Los Angeles; two daughters, Dyan Clark (Mark) of Sacramento, California and Lisa Descenti (Todd) of Oklahoma City; and two brothers, George Smith (Mary) of Oklahoma City and Frank Smith of Santa Cruz, California.

     Funeral services will be held at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, October 2, 2021 at Calhoun Baptist Church with Dr. Richard Sams officiating.  Friends may visit with James’ family from 11:30 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. Saturday at the church.  Muster Funeral Homes, Calhoun Chapel is handling the arrangements for James’ family.  The family requests that attendees wear bright colored clothing to the funeral service.

     James’ services will be streamed live on www.musterfuneralhomes.com at 1:00 P.M. Saturday.

     The James D. Smith family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to Calhoun Baptist Church; P.O. Box 283; Calhoun, Kentucky  42327.

     Share your memories and photos of James at musterfuneralhomes.com.

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