Robert E. Smith

Bob was born September 3, 1933, in Topeka, the son of Thomas and Ruth Wrenn Smith. He graduated from Hayden High School in 1951. Bob attended and played football for Kansas State University where he earned a bachelor of business degree in 1955. He was a “tough as nails” linebacker on a very good football team. Bob married Janis Crawford from Stafford, Kansas on December 27, 1955. Janis was his first college date. They celebrated 63 years of marriage in December 2018. Bob wants you to know that is above the national average. Bob served in the United States Air Force. He owned and operated Bob Smith Motor Company in Kansas City, Missouri since 1958 where he represented cars honestly and priced them fairly. “Ask your neighbor, he’s dealt with us.”

Bob’s Catholic faith was very important to him. He served as a communion distributor at Curé of Ars Church for 47 years. He was a proud Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. His fellow Curé of Ars parishioners will miss him dearly.

Bob humbly achieved 49 years of continuous sobriety through a 12 Step Program. He served as President of the National Council on Alcoholism (Kansas City Area) in 1978 and as a member of the Executive Board for six years. The organization, now named First Call, honored him by naming the Bob Smith Recovery Champion Award and the First Call Board Room after him. He sponsored nearly 100 recovering alcoholics, many of them high school classmates and Roman Catholic priests. “When one drunk gets sober, ten people get happy.” Bob is directly linked to the happiness of thousands of people. Bob loved his recovery program and what it has done for him and for his family. He considered its members to be his tribe whom he loved passionately. He will be missed.

Bob’s family was most important to him. He was a youth football coach and active in all his children and grandchildren’s activities. Bob is survived by his wife, Janis; children Shannon McNeely, Tamara Bryant, David Smith (Cindy); grandchildren Heather Lenahan (Mark), Jason Bryant (Faith), Jeremy Bryant (Andrea), Aaron McNeely (Riana), David Burke Smith, Katherine Smith, and Everett Smith; great grandchildren Carter McNeely and Parker Lenahan; sister Ruth Lampton; and siblings, Steve Smith and Becky Smith.

Bob knew that God loved him passionately and that “together God and Bob could do more good than either God or Bob could do alone.”

Visitation will from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, May 16 at McGilley State Line Chapel, 12301 State Line Road, Kansas City, MO. Mass of Christian Burial will be 11 a.m. on Friday, May 17 at Curé of Ars Catholic Church, 9401 Mission Road, Leawood, KS. In lieu of flowers, please make charitable donations to First Call: https://www.firstcallkc.org/donate.