Kenneth Allen Smith

Kenneth attended schools in Pisgah and Elkader, Iowa. As a youth, he enjoyed playing baseball, basketball, football and playing the trombone in the band. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science and Commerce degree. He served in World War II in the Philippine Islands. He held the rank of 1st Lieutenant and served in the Military Police. He married the love of his life, Ruth Cox, on August 24, 1947 in Leon, Iowa. They had four children.

He worked for the J. C. Penney Company for thirty-three years from 1949 to 1982. He worked at stores in Iowa, Kansas, Utah and Texas. He was the Manager of the Amarillo, Texas Sunset Center store from 1963 to 1982 .He was a member of St. Paul Methodist Church in Amarillo, Texas from 1963-2024.

Kenneth enjoyed singing. He was a member of the church choir, the Golden Spread Barbershop Chorus and the Gentlemen 4 Barbershop Quartet. Volunteering was important to him. He volunteered in Escort Service at the Amarillo VA Hospital. He delivered Meals on Wheels for 35 years with his wife, Ruth, and they received a Lifetime Service Award in 2016. He was active with the Amarillo United Way and served as the 1980 campaign chairman. He was president of the Amarillo Better Business Bureau in 1976. Kenneth and Ruth were members of the Amarillo Wheels-A-Go-Go RV club. Kenneth loved visiting his children and grandchildren, going to the mountains, traveling, growing tomatoes and roses, reading westerns, water skiing, dancing, golfing and fishing.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Ruth.

He is survived by his sister, Virginia Turner of Oakland, CA; his children, Bruce Smith and wife, Donna; Kathleen Owca and husband, Bill; Debra Smith; Roger Smith and wife, Mary Lynn; his six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to St. Paul Methodist Church, Amarillo Meals on Wheels, or BSA Hospice of the Southwest.