Marion David "Dave" Smith

Dave, age 85, died Thursday, June 18, 2020 at Ascension Borgess Hospital, Kalamazoo, MI with most of his family at his side. Dave, the son of Marion C. and Rhea E. (Porter) Smith, was born in Parchment, MI on March 18, 1935; was a lifetime area resident and graduated in 1953 from the Richland Rural Agricultural School. He was employed in maintenance and a cutter operator at KVP Papermill of Parchment from 1953 until 1968 and the Battle Creek Public Schools from 1968 to 1978. He was also a self-employed handyman. In retirement, Dave and his wife, Nancy were employed at the Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care, Richland Chapel working visitations for local families and following through the next day by working their funeral service. He was an excellent carpenter and loved building, remodeling and landscaping as they moved 13 times in their married life. Dave also enjoyed gardening and RV travel making numerous friends all over the country. He was also very active in his church, the New Hope Church of Richland as the Choir Director and Soloist with quite an amazing voice and also played the trumpet. Dave was united in marriage to the former, Nancy Lu DeYoung in Richland on June 30, 1956. Surviving is his wife of 64 years, Nancy; four daughters, Bonnie Lynn (Dave) Clark of Richland, Cindy Lu (Donald) Chapman of Vicksburg, MI, Deborah Kay Rapp of Keystone, SD and Rebecca Ann (James) McKague of Kalamazoo; a son, John C. (Bonnie) Smith of Hopkins; twenty grandchildren; twenty seven great grandchildren and three great great grandchildren; three sisters; Ruth E. Hammond and Esther M. Murphy, both of Battle Creek and Alice E. Zuiderveen of Bettendorf, IA and three brothers, Wallace M. Smith of Portage, MI, Willard J. (Catherine) Smith and David P. (Martha) Smith, both of Delton, MI. Dave was preceded in death by his parents and a son-in-law, Mark Rapp. The celebration of Dave's life will be held at a Memorial Gathering on Saturday, August 1st at the New Hope Church, 9300 East D Avenue (M-89), Richland, MI 49083 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. with both the Church Proper and the Church Pavilion being used for social distancing purposes with masks required. Private, family interment will be in the New Hope Church Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Dave's honor may be directed to the New Hope Church - M. David Smith Acoustic Fund (See address above). The Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Home & Cremation Care, Richland Chapel (269-629-6022) is assisting Dave's family. Personal messages and/or favorite memories of Dave may be placed at www.farleyestesdowdle.com