Smith, Rev. Gary D.

SMITH, THORNTON, ROBERTS

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 7/18/2005 at 20:45:02

Funeral services for Lt. Cmdr. Dr. Rev. Gary D. Smith, 51, formerly of Pella, were held February 5 at the First Baptist Church in Pella, the Rev. John McNabb, Rev. Mark Pries and Rev. Todd Rempe officiated. Music was provided by pianist Mrs. Kathy Farmer, a duet sung by Paula Boehlje and Ted Dykstra, and a song by the First Baptist Church Choir.

Committal service and Military rites were at the Oakwood Cemetery in Pella, the Rev Todd Rempe presided. Casket bearers were "his family"- Aaron Smith, Daniel Scaperoth, David Scaperoth, Cameron Hightower, Travis Van Der Kamp, Steven Crippen, Matthew Scaperoth, and Dillon Hightower. Honorary bearer was "His Dad" - Kyle T. Smith.

Gary Dean Smith, the only son of Kyle T. and Elma Thornton Smith, was born on February 9, 1951 in Greenville, S.C. Gary attended grade school in Burlington, N.C. and while walking to the bus stop heard a call to the ministry when he was nine years old. He was raised in North Carolina in a congregation of the United Church of Christ. Gary was accepted and graduated from the Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.

His family then moved to Menlo Park, Calif. where he enrolled at Stanford University and prepared academically to go to medical school. After moving to California the family visited the nearby First Baptist Church. The friendliest greeter there was a 16 year old girl, Carol Adair Roberts, who helped lead Gary and his family in a personal relationship to the Lord. At the age of 18 years, during Easter week of 1969, Gary was baptized at the First Baptist Church in Menlo Park. He asked the Pastor for work to do and was directed to the Junior High Department of the First Baptist Church. Most of the young people there were from broken homes and low-income neighborhoods of the metro area who expressed emotional and spiritual needliness, so he felt very necessary. Gary graduated from Stanford University in 1972 in three years with a Biology Major and went on to seminary at The Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Ill. where his call to ministry was formalized. Gary graduated with distinction with his Masters of Divinity Degree in 1976.

On November 17, 1972 he married his soul mate, Carol Adair Roberts, at Menlo Park and they were blessed with three children: Amy Lynn, Aaron Christopher and Abbey Elizabeth.

Gary's first position as a minister began in 1972 while a student at Stanford at the First Baptist Church in Menlo Park. For the next three years he served as Minister of the Shabbona Baptist Church Shabbona, Ill. and then at the Wirt Baptist Church in Madison, Ind. Providentially a call to the congregation in Southern Indiana afforded him the opportunity for concurrent study toward a Ph.D. at The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky. In 1980 their ministry took them back to California where he served the First Baptist Church in Carmichael for the next seven years. During this time, Gary received his Doctorate of Philosophy Degree in New Testament Greek.

In 1987 Gary joined the U.S. Naval Reserves as a Lieutenant in Sacramento, Calif. Gary served as a Navy Chaplain during Operation Desert Storm and continued to serve as a Lt. Commander with the Naval Reserves. As a Navy Chaplain, he was an interdenominational chaplain for all Protestants, Catholics and other religions. In 1987 Gary became the Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Pella where they served for the next 12 1/2 years.

During this time he was accepted and attended Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical Center in Des Moines with intentions of becoming a medical missionary. In 1999 they moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he was stationed at the Naval Air Station for seven months and then he became the minister of the Runaway Bay Community Church in Runaway Bay, Texas.

At the present time he was the minister of the Bay Chapel, a newly established church, near Runaway Bay. Presently Gary was also the Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Vernon College in Wichita Falls, Texas and was teaching several humanity courses while serving as an Adjunct-Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Fort Worth, Texas.

Gary was a member of the American Baptist Churches U.S.A., the U.S. Naval Reserves, the Texas State Teachers Association and the Harley Owners Group (HOG). Gary had fond memories of touring the country of Israel with church friends and leading church camps. Children from all seven of his churches frequently called him the "church daddy." Gary frequently personified a different Biblical character to teach about their lives and had an unbelievable gift for preaching without notes. From the moment Gary received Jesus as Lord and Savior, he experienced genuine gratitude in his heart for salvation and an intense motivation to serve HIM.

On Wednesday, January 29, he died of injuries received in a single car accident.

He is survived by his wife of 30 years, C. Adair Smith; their children: Amy L. Van Der Kamp and her husband, Travis of Cedar Rapids; Aaron C. Smith and his fiance, Alison Wisse of Pella; Abbey E. Smith, at home in Runaway Bay, Texas; and his five month old grandson, Elijah Dean Van Der Kamp; his parents: Kyle and Elma Smith of Goldsboro, N.C.; his four younger sisters and their husbands: Deborah and Daniel Scaperoth, Beverly (Hightower) and Steven Crippen of Farragut, Tenn.; Barbara and Roger Lewis of Durham, N.C.; Donna and Barry Womack of Raleigh, N.C. and his 15 nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were handled by Van Dyk-Duven Funeral Home in Pella.

Memorials may be given for the Dr. Gary D. Smith memorial fund to be used at the discretion of the family.

The Pella Chronicle, February 14, 2003