Mr. Randy Hughes Smith

Randy was born on December 2, 1952 to Dennie Ray Smith and Rachel Hughes Smith in Jackson, Tennessee. Randy attended high school at Central High School in Bolivar, Tennessee, where he met his future wife, Diane Jean McKee. Randy and Diane both attended Middle Tennessee State University, and during their time there, they were married on August 19, 1972.

After graduating from college in 1974, Randy and Diane moved back to Bolivar, where they both taught at Central High. Randy was the music teacher and marching band leader; he wrote original compositions for the band to play, designed their marching shows, and listened to the same LP of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos every day during lunch because the selection in the school's library was so sparse.

In 1985, as their two children neared school age, Randy and Diane chose to move to Nashville, where Diane resumed her teaching career and Randy took up a career in computer programming and, after that, actuarial science, which he learned independently through study sessions conducted late at night in front of movies and television shows that he watched with only one eye.

When Diane returned to school to earn a master's degree, Randy was selected to serve as her secretary, typing up every required paper and even producing transcripts of hours of counseling sessions. Randy quipped that he should have received a degree, too, but he did eventually go on to earn a graduate degree in his own right, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Music would not be Randy's career in Nashville, but he would always serve the church in worship. He began playing piano in church at age thirteen, at his mother's urging, and later picked up the organ, too. At Una Baptist Church, Randy would lead children's and youth choirs, one year composing his own musical, "Why Do We Have Easter?" for the children because he was so dissatisfied with the Easter musicals published that year. Later, at Nashville's First Baptist Church, Randy would play trombone and produce instrumental arrangements for worship, and travel with a group of musicians, the Silver Notes, to play at locations all over the Greater Nashville area. He served in other roles, too, serving in his younger years as a music minister and youth director, and later as a Sunday School teacher and deacon.

Randy loved his children. He spent his lunch hour driving them to enrichment activities when they were in elementary school, and taking them out for the lunch of their choice every Saturday while Diane was in class. He built snowmen, painted Pinewood Derby cars, attended dance recitals, and through all of it continued to provide for his family. He relished retirement and was able to make it a reward for a lifetime of dedication to earning the resources that his family needed to thrive, traveling with Diane and sharing his love of music with his grandchildren.

Randy is survived by his wife, Diane; his sister, Betty, of Nesbit, Mississippi; his son and daughter-in-law, Andrew and Pam Smith, of Jefferson City, Tennessee; his daughter, Kara Smith, of Nashville, Tennessee; and his grandchildren, Elizabeth and Charlotte.

Visitation will be held at First Baptist Church, Nashville from 1 until 3 PM, Sunday, January 28, with a memorial service to follow immediately in the sanctuary. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the orchestra ministry of First Baptist Church, Nashville.

The family would like to thank the physicians, nurses, and staff of Summit Medical Center and Alive Hospice for the excellent care Randy received in his last days.