Eugene Smiley

Eugene accepted Christ into his life at a young age and kept that faith strong for the rest of his days.

He grew up in the Christ’s Holiness Southern Baptist Church where he started his musical career singing in the choir before he ever started piano lessons.

Eugene, (Gino), attended school in Brookhaven, MS. After graduation, he relocated to Kansas City, Mo .He began his life-long career as a Musician and evolved into a world class entertainer. Beginning with singing on the street corners with his neighborhood pals. So he went from Old School, to Motown, to Blues, and finally into Smooth Jazz.

He also followed an education path that led him to an engineering degree for tool and die computer programming. He retired from that field about 10 years ago.

In the following decades he would be blessed with seven beautiful children. Regardless of what obstacles he faced in life, he never gave up on loving them. In 2004 he was blessed again to find, fall in love again for the final time, and marry Geri Jayn Raymond. They say, “Third times the charm.” And it was. He enjoyed almost two decades of peace and harmony, joy and laughter. He finally had the music recording studio of his dreams, plenty of room for vegetable gardens, and the joy of a multitude of dogs over those years. (The last two are now on a diet much to their dismay. No more breakfasts of bacon and pancakes!)

His musical career allowed him to travel across this great country and play with some of our legends: Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Al Green, BB King, Bobby Womack, etc. (Too many to mention here!) 2004 found him inducted as an Elder Statesman of Jazz in the Kansas City Society.

Eugene was kind and gracious friend to many, many persons in the KC metro and across the globe. He took pride in molding and mentoring young musically inclined youth. If they had a passion for the art, He was willing to take them under his wing!

In the last decade his health declined, but that did not stop him for producing CDs for local musicians, writing songs, producing his own music, and working to promote the young aspiring members of our ever expanding musician family. He was currently working on a Heritage Concert for 2021 when the Lord called him home. This project will be carried on by loving friends.

To carry on his legacy he leaves his wife, Geri Jayn Smiley; three daughters, Angenetta Williams, Regina Dickerson, Shaneece Smiley; three sons. Eugene. Jr. (Jeannetta), Charles Smiley (Sara), Anthony Smiley (Crystal), Brandon Smiley (Jimmarie), and his most honorary son, Tracy Mitchell. In California are his sisters Beatrice Kingston and Cynthia Lorraine Prince and one surviving brother Kip Dukes.

He was blessed with a multitude of grandkids, great grandkids, his very own personal nurse/honorary daughter, Bea Gray, and a

host of nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great grandchildren and the whole community of friends in Kansas City, across this Country, and across the world of blues and old school lovers that will all miss him greatly.