Cover photo for Chris Gene Smith's Obituary
Chris Gene Smith Profile Photo
1960 Chris 2022

Chris Gene Smith

September 20, 1960 — May 16, 2022

Chris Gene Smith, age 61 but forever young, died holding the hands of his children as the sun set on May 16, 2022; he took his last peaceful breaths and stepped onto a ship that would hopefully sail him to a land far brighter.

Chris was born on September 20, 1960, to, and preceded by, Charles Edward Smith and Bonnie Mae Wicks Smith in the city of Shreveport, Louisiana. His family relocated while he was a child to Cleveland, TN. He graduated from Bradley Central High School and later attended Belmont University and the University of Chattanooga where he studied Geology and the Natural Sciences before assuming a permanent role on the Rymer/Smith family dairy farm where he worked hard alongside his father who was nothing short of a hero to him.

In the late Autumn of 1985, Chris met Sheila Ann Stanley, and fate had it that they would marry shortly after in the Spring of ‘86. Together they brought four incredible children into the world and welcomed their spouses as their own—in order of birth: Christopher Eric Smith and wife Katelyn Cordell Smith; Sandra Megan Smith-Byrne and husband Thomas Edward Byrne; Heath Otto Smith and wife Brooke Nola Smith; and Hannah Marie Smith. Chris also cherished and held close four granddaughters, Natalie; Layla; Aubriella; Lucy; and one grandson, Liam.

Chris knew no greater joy than that of his faith in the Lord and his role as father and grandfather. He had a certain Peter Pan disposition in the fact that he was eternally hopeful, playful, adventurous, and vibrant on his own, and those attributes were showcased not only to his children but his grandchildren as well. No tree was left unclimbed; his hands felt the cascading of every waterfall; his eyes, the color of the calmest green and blue waters, woke for nearly every sunrise. He enjoyed family walks, games, and was stubborn in his belief that he could hike the most difficult of paths.

He was gentle and intelligent—a walking history book and a pillar of philosophical ideas and imaginative thoughts which filled the pages of numerous journals, notebooks, and diner napkins. We will miss his creativity, patience, forgiving nature, curiosity, faith; his art; his mind; his comforting presence.

But Chris sails on a ship made of elm and oak; mist on his face and salt in his red curls, he turns his head to velvet skies—a sea calm enough to rock his body into an eternal sleep until we meet him again at the dock.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Chris Gene Smith, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Memorial Gathering

Saturday, May 21, 2022

2:00 - 4:00 pm (Central time)

Companion Funeral & Cremation Service - Cleveland Chapel

2415 Georgetown Road Northwest, Cleveland, TN 37311

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