Mark "Smitty" A. Smith, Jr.

Mark, affectionately known as Smitty, was born in New Orleans but grew up in Norco, Louisiana. He was the third of five children of Juliet Englade and Mark Alonzo Smith, Sr. This little blond-haired boy, friendly and kind, easily won the hearts of his aunts, uncles, and neighbors. They often reminisced how when he was little, he said in his most emphatic voice, “We (him and his sisters) all look alike. Only Tags (our dog) don’t look like us.”

As a youth, Smitty loved trains, baseball and football. He was a bat boy for the Shell Oilers baseball team in Norco where his father was a player. At St. Charles Borromeo High School in Destrehan, Louisiana, though he barely weighed one hundred thirty pounds, he played football. At home in the summer, he could often be found in the living room sitting on the floor absorbed in his model train layout.

Smitty attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He graduated from USL in l967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology. He remained very loyal to his alma mater, USL, and would wear the school colors, red and white, every Friday for the rest of his life. He remained loyal to his high school and classmates as well. Later, he received a Master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the United States Air Force where he served his country for four years. He worked in radar technology and was stationed first in Houma, Louisiana, and then in Baudette, Minnesota. After his service obligation, Smitty brought his growing family to Houston, Texas, where he worked for Shell Oil in Pipeline Engineering until he retired in 2003. He then worked for several years at the Fort Bend appraisal district. After retiring from the Fort Bend center, he returned to his passion for trains. He volunteered at the Rosenberg Train Museum where he helped maintain the train layouts.

In 1969, Smitty married his college sweetheart, Sandy (Sandra Timms) at Christ the King Catholic Church in Bossier City, Louisiana, Sandy’s hometown. Smitty was a model family man. He always put family first, often denying himself material goods so he could provide for them. He and Sandy were married for fifty-six years. They had two children, Mark and Lynne, and two grandchildren, Faith and Hope. One of his greatest delights was being “Poppie” to his granddaughters.

Smitty was a quiet man who loved to listen. He enjoyed his 50’s music and anything Michael Jackson, which he would blast through his car radio! He was also a prayerful man who loved his Catholic faith, never missing Mass even when traveling. He served as an altar server and then later as an Acolyte. Smitty was very active in the Knights of Columbus, most recently acting in the role of lectern. He especially enjoyed the Lenten Fish Frys where he served as the “wine man.”

Throughout the years he was actively involved in many parish ministries, including the Art and Environment Committee at St. Laurence where he volunteered for over twenty years. During the liturgical holidays, you could find him hanging banners behind the altar or putting up Christmas lights in the courtyard.

Smitty leaves behind his wife, his son and daughter-in-law, Colleen; his daughter and son-in-law, Mike Bolyard, and his two granddaughters. He also leaves behind his sister, Lynne, and her husband, Edmond Gonzales; his sister, Joy Smith Arcuri; six nieces, two nephews and many friends.

Preceding him in death were his sister, Mary Barbara Waguespack, his brother, Gerard Smith, his mother and father and one nephew.

A visitation will be held Sunday, March 23 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in at Earthman Southwest Funeral Home, 12555 South Kirkwood Road in Stafford, with the Recitation of the Holy Rosary at 7:00 p.m.

A Funeral Mass will occur Monday, March 24 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Laurence Catholic Church, 3100 Sweetwater Blvd in Sugar Land.

Immediately following, all are invited to share memories of Mark during a reception to be held in the nearby Parish Hall at St. Laurence Catholic Church.

The Rite of Committal will follow the reception via funeral procession to Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive in Houston.

In lieu of flowers, the family ask that donations be made to the Disabled American Veterans, 6900 Almeda Road, Houston, TX 77030 or the Rosenberg Railroad Museum, 1921 Avenue F., Rosenberg, TX 77471.