Smit, Raymond 1915-1993

SMIT, VERRIPS, HOUTSMA

Posted By: Paul Van Dyke-Volunteer
Date: 6/17/2014 at 23:58:14

Source: Sioux County Index (5-26-1993)

Born: October 18, 1915
Died: May 18, 1993

Raymond Smit, 77, of Boyden, died Tuesday, May 18, at Marian Health Center in Sioux City.

Services were at 10:30 A.M., Saturday, May 22, at the First Reformed Church in Boyden with the Rev. Mark Volkers officiated. Burial was in Sheridan Township Cemetery at Boyden.

Smit was born October 18, 1915, to Ralph and Minnie (Verrips) Smit in Boyden. He received his education in Boyden schools and graduated from Boyden High School.

On December 19, 1935, he was united in marriage to Frieda Houtsma in Boyden. After their marriage they made their home in Boyden where with his father, they started Smit & Son Packing Company. He retired from the company in 1974.

The Smits remained in Boyden and spend many winters in Yuma, Arizona. They celebrated 57 years of marriage last December.

Smit was a member of the First Reformed Church in Boyden, serving as an elder and on the church consistory. He was an active member of the Boyden Community Club, receiving the Boyden Citizen of the Year Award in 1983. He served on the board of director of the Farmers Savings Bank of Boyden. Smit was Boyden fire chief for 23 years and a Boyden city council member for 15 years.

He was active in softball and basketball, serving as high-school basketball coach during the war years. Smit was an avid fisherman, hunter and golfer, serving the last 19 years as president of the Otter Valley Golf Course.

Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Janice Sneller and Sherry Stephens, both of Boyden; one grandson, Ray, and his wife, Stephanie, of Boyden; three granddaughters, Lorene Parsons of Annapolis, Maryland, Rhonda Kompelien of Lynchburg, Virginia, and Lynn Rae Sneller of Lawrence, Kansas; eight great-grandchildren and many other relatives and friends