Richard F. Smith, age 84, of Litchfield died on Thursday, October 4, 2018 at the Meeker Memorial Hospital in Litchfield. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 AM on October 11, 2018, at St. Philip Catholic Church in Litchfield. Visitation will be 4 – 8 PM on Wednesday, October 10th at the church with a prayer service at 7:45 PM.
Visitation will also be held one hour prior to the funeral service. Interment will be in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery with military honors by the Litchfield Military Honor Guard. Richard Francis Smith, the son of Asa and Marjorie (Jude) Smith, was born on August 4, 1934 in Maple Lake, MN.
He graduated from Maple Lake High School in 1952. Following high school he served in the US Army from 1955 to 1957. On November 9, 1957 he was united in marriage to Eloise Wurm at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Maple Lake.
They lived in Minneapolis for a short period of time and he worked as a reservationist for Braniff Airways. They moved to Litchfield in 1960 where he owned and operated Jude Candy and Tobacco Co. until he retired in 1996. During his 84 years of life he was a member of the Church of St. Philip, Knights of Columbus and served on the church council.
He received the Bishop’s Medal of Service for his many years of outstanding service to St. Philip’s Parish and the Litchfield Community. It was presented to him by Bishop Lucker on April 18th, 1998. Faith and Family were most important to him.
He enjoyed time with family & friends playing cards, liars dice, golfing, horseshoes, bowling or having a cup of coffee with the guys at Burger King. He loved sports and he was a whiz at knowing all kinds of trivia and stats. He loved to dance and play cribbage with his bride of 60 years.
He is survived by his wife Eloise Smith of Litchfield; children Colleen (Tim) Nelson of Grove City, Paul Smith (Kathy Bartz) of Marshall, Bruce (Anna) Smith of Backus, Janet (John) Derosier of White Bear Township, Mark (Jenny) Smith of Darwin, Pamela (Roger) Uecker of Deer River, Connie (Gary) Schmidt of Hutchinson. 24 Grandchildren: Mike, Joe (Ashley), Jenna (Luke), James, Jessica (Andy), Jeremy, Dan (Jalayna), Kaitlin (David), Phil (Tina), Tana (Mark), Tammi (Kevin), Tara (JT), Keyandre, Nicolette (Daniel), Sophie, Elena, Sarah (Michael), Kimberly (Caleb), Emily (Taylor), Erik (Dianna), Nicholas (Brittany), Gavin, Ryan, and Blake. 19 Great-Grandchildren: Hunter, Claire, Beau, Monroe, Charlotte, Violet, Matthew, Quinn, Khloe, Alexa, Kyra, Lucas, William, Elliot, Trinity, Madelyn, Malia, Aria, Nolan, and Lylah due in November, his sister Sally Reinert, of Bloomington, brother and sister in laws Jim (Marlene), Sister Betty and Sister Martha, Maxine (Len), Hazel, Arlene (Wayne), Margaret and Ann (Bob) and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents Asa and Marjorie Smith and siblings and in-laws Dorothy (Wally), Donald (Lucille), Juanita, Kate (Phil), Ralph (Mary), Dan, Agnes (Syl), Grace (Leo), Tom, Tim (Marie), Mary (Bill), Roy and Allen. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Philip’s Catholic School. Rich will be dearly missed by all.
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