Thomas Lee Smith

Thomas Lee Smith, age 84, passed away December 15, 2019 at the Pioneer Skilled Nursing in Marceline.

Thomas Lee Smith was born December 8, 1935 in rural Madison County,  Iowa near Macksburg.    He grew up in Madison County and attended the rural Pitzer school through sixth grade.   He attended junior high and high school at Earlham, Iowa and graduated from Earlham High in 1954. 

On September 2, 1956 he was united in marriage to Trudy Heitman of Earlham.   They farmed in Madison County until 1962.  They then moved to Traer, Iowa where they farmed.   Tom also worked for a time at John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa before becoming a partner and manager of the Traer Auction Company livestock auction.   Later they lived near Lincoln, Missouri where they had a cattle operation and Tom continued his cattle buying business for various feedlots and farmers in Missouri and Iowa.

In 2001, the couple relocated to Brookfield, Missouri and continued in the cattle business until they retired from farming in 2012.  Tom continued to fill feeder cattle orders until just weeks before he passed.

Tom enjoyed raising cattle and training dogs and horses to do unusal things.  He was very proud of a horse he had trained as a young man to lay down, roll over and play dead.   He served in the Iowa National Guard reserves.   He was a 4-H leader and a youth baseball coach.  He was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Brookfield.

He is survived by his four children, Mark Smith and wife, Becky, of Lincoln, Missouri;  Mike Smith and wife, Tina, of Brookfield, Missouri; Teresa Smith Cobler and husband, Tony, of Ottumwa, Iowa; and Tim Smith and wife, Shannon, of Indianola, Iowa; his brother Morris Smith of Earlham, Iowa; his sister Glenna Smith Finney of Winterset, Iowa; ten grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by Trudy, his beloved wife of 63 years.

Funeral services will be Thursday, December 19, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. at Wright Funeral Home in Brookfield with Pastor Joel Kidwell officiating.  Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookfield.  The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. until the time of service at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to Linn County 4-H Fair may be left at or mailed to Wright Funeral Home, P.O. Box 496, Brookfield, MO 64628.

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