Lonnie Smith

Lonnie Dale Smith, age 63 of Phoenix, AZ, passed away suddenly in the hospital the morning of Sunday June 23, 2024 after suffering from a stroke. His loss is completely unexpected and his family is profoundly saddened by his passing.

Lonnie was born in Escondido, California on June 27, 1960 to Gwynn Smith and Leuella Snyder. He lived in California for the majority of his life and met his wife, Angela, in May of 1979. They dated for 6 months and she waited while he served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in British Columbia, Canada. They were married on June 18, 1982 shortly after his return home to Anaheim, CA.

Lonnie loved riding his bicycle, spending time with family, and was what his family affectionately referred to as a “computer nerd”. He was dubbed the “Linux Wizard” at his work as he was a Linux Systems Administrator for over 30 years and was well loved and well known around the office. Several times a week he would take any leftovers from the office to people in his church and community who might have been in need of a meal or three. He was generous with his time, talents, love, and energy and was always looking for ways to be in service to others. If you had a problem, Lonnie could fix it…and if he couldn’t, he would find a way.

On April 20, 2024 Lonnie was in a motorcycle accident and suffered extensive injuries including severe road rash, intestinal injury and internal bleeding, and shattering the majority of bones in his right forearm. He was airlifted from Superior, AZ to a trauma hospital in Scottsdale, AZ where he underwent several surgeries to reset the bones in the arm, clean out any road rash debris, and stem the internal bleeding, which resulted in removing part of the intestine.

After taking some time to heal in both the hospital and a skilled nursing facility, he was back home and recovering well. There were no signs of issues and he was receiving the best of care from his doctors. His departure comes as a great shock and a deep wound, and it is gravely felt by his entire family, friends, church, and community. Lonnie’s final act of kindness and service to others was to give the gift of life and life-saving research through bone and tissue donation.

Lonnie is survived by his wife Angela, his children Christopher, Emily, and Molly, his grandchild Sofia, his mother Leuella, and his siblings Tammy, Wendy, and Gary. His loss will be deeply felt by all who knew and loved him.

Memorial services will be held at the LDS Church Building at 10930 W Garden Lakes Pkwy Avondale, AZ 85392 on Tuesday July 2nd at 11am with a luncheon provided directly following the service.

The family is accepting flowers for the service as well as contributions to their memorial fund via GoFundMe and VenMo (linked below). They greatly appreciate your support during this difficult time and ask that you share any memories of our beloved Lonnie on the memorial website.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-lonnies-family-in-difficult-times

VenMo: @lacemms2014