Tommy (Tom) Alan Smith

Obituary For Tommy (Tom) Alan Smith

Tommy (Tom) Alan Smith, 73, passed away at home in Good Hope, Georgia, on May 17, 2026, surrounded by the family he loved so deeply and reminding everyone nearby to “be careful” one last time.

Tom was born on June 1, 1952, in Wichita, Kansas, to Russell Edwin Smith and Gail Dudney Smith. He met his wife Janice Marie Smith at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX and they were later married on June 8, 1974. Together they built a life full of laughter, faith, adventure, music, projects that took significantly longer than expected, and unwavering love for their family.

Tom was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He is survived by his wife, Janice Smith; his daughters, Jordan Woodruff (Dusty) and Korey Smith (Harold Crowson); his son, Taylor Smith; and his beloved granddaughters, Denley and Ivy Woodruff, who knew and adored him as “Popi” and who brought him endless joy.

Tom spent much of his career in computer aviation, beginning at Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, where he worked for 26 years after starting in 1975. On September 11, 2001, he began his career at Learjet in Wichita and remained there until retiring in 2014. He took great pride in his work and had the kind of mechanical mind that could figure out almost anything — usually after taking it apart first.

Known lovingly by his family as “Tink,” Tom could draw up, fix, build, repair, improve, or completely redesign just about anything. Plumbing, electrical work, woodworking, garage and home projects — if something was broken, Dad was going to fix it. Eventually. His family often joked that no project was ever small, simple, or quick once Tom got involved because perfection was always the goal. Still, whatever he built lasted forever.

He built a beautiful wooden rocking horse for his granddaughter Denley, loved radio-controlled airplanes, enjoyed his slot car racetrack, and could spend hours happily tinkering in the garage. As a kid, he even rode a unicycle, which honestly explains a lot about his willingness to try anything at least once.

Tom also had a sentimental side hidden somewhere underneath all the tools and projects. He held onto his grandmother Theresa’s 1941 Chevy, which sat for years in the family garage, as well as his mother’s car after she passed away — perhaps because he hoped to restore them one day, or perhaps because holding onto them helped keep their memory and legacy alive in his heart. Knowing Tom, it was probably both.

Tom was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis at just 26 years old, but he refused to let it define his life. He faced challenges with determination, resilience, humor, stubbornness, and grit. He simply kept going.

Music was one of Tom’s greatest loves. The soundtrack of his life included Three Dog Night, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Bread, The Who, Neil Diamond, the Rolling Stones, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Gordon Lightfoot, Chicago, and The 5th Dimension — along with classical composers like Bach, Brahms, Schubert, and Beethoven. Whether it was classic rock or classical music, Tom always had something playing.

Tom loved his family and created countless memories that will be treasured forever. Saturday mornings often meant trips to McDonald’s or M-Donuts for breakfast, recycling cans with his then-young children, camping adventures, and road trips to Texas for summers spent at Lake LBJ, where he somehow always got recruited into lake house repair projects for his father-in-law. He built the occasional ice-skating rink and backyard pool and even built a custom swing set with a slide for his children alongside his father — one of the last projects they completed together and one his family treasured for years.

Every Christmas season, Tom would take each child out individually for dinner and Christmas shopping so they could pick out gifts for the family together. Those one-on-one outings became some of the most cherished memories of all.

One of Tom’s most beloved roles was storyteller. Nearly every night when his children were little, he would tell them his famous ongoing bedtime stories about “Mr. McSmash” — a character who always seemed to find himself fixing things, accidentally creating bigger problems, and stumbling into one hilarious situation after another; his granddaughters would beg for him to tell these stories to them when they spent that night at Gigi and Popi’s house. Mr. McSmash may have shared a few similarities with Tom’s real life as a man who could fix almost anything, though unlike Mr. McSmash, Dad was not exactly a klutz. Those stories became a treasured part of childhood for his children and remain some of the memories they hold closest today.

He was known for his constant joking and playful spirit. Jordan has spent much of her adult life saying, “Would you be serious for a second, Dad?” usually right before he cracked another joke or forwarded another email he found hilarious. Tom never missed an opportunity to tease the people he loved most.

He also had a few unforgettable traits that made him uniquely Tom. Whenever he bought Janice a gift, he somehow managed to buy himself one too. One of their first vacations as a couple included an ambitious hike in Colorado to find a beautiful lake on top of a mountain… except there was apparently no lake. Before marriage, Tom and Janice enjoyed adventurous white-water rafting trips with friends, setting the tone early for a life full of stories and laughter together.

Tom was a Christian who attended Central Church of Christ in Wichita, Kansas, where he served as a deacon for many years. After moving to Georgia in 2020, he attended Campus View Church of Christ in Athens.

Above all else, Tom will be remembered for the way he loved — deeply, faithfully, humorously, and wholeheartedly. He was the kind of husband and dad who made Saturday mornings special, who always had a project going on, who never stopped checking on his kids no matter how old they were, and who somehow turned ordinary moments into lifelong memories.

Though their hearts are broken, his family finds comfort in knowing what a tremendous gift it was to be loved by him.

We know that God welcomed him home and would like to think that he immediately handed him a set of tools and a new project to work on — one he’ll finally finish perfectly.

**Spell check was carefully performed to remove Dad’s signature extra “e’s.”

Just as Tom would have wanted, a small Celebration of Life gathering will be held at the Smith home on Sunday, May 24th in the afternoon.

Additional details will be shared with family and friends soon

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