Jeff & Leslie Smith

President & Vice President

Jeff Smith joined the staff in June 2006 as a funeral director. In 2010 Jeff and his wife Leslie stepped into the role of leading the funeral homes. They plan to continue the legacy of the funeral home. Jeff graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor's Degree in Small Business Management and the University of Memphis with an MBA. He is proud to carry on the Smith family tradition of funeral service. He and Leslie are the proud parents of three children, Hayden, Kaylee, and Sawyer. As Vice President, Leslie adds her motherly touch to the Smith Family.

Clay Smith

General Manager of Operations, Smith Family Funeral Homes

Clay came to work at Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home in 1979 as an apprentice. He became a Funeral Director in 1983 after serving his apprenticeship and going to Mortuary School in Dallas. He was Manager of Smith - North Funeral Home from 2005 to 2015, and is now General Manager of Operations of all Smith Family Funeral Homes locations. Clay and his wife Audrey have two children and he is "PaPa" to his four grandchildren.

Vicki Quinn

Manager, Funeral Director & Embalmer

Vicki, Manager of Smith-North Little Rock Funeral Home, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, joined the firm in 2011. She knew as a teenager that she wanted to be involved in the funeral Industry and considers serving grieving families to be a "ministry" that allows her to fulfill that calling. She attended Arkansas Tech and is a graduate of Commonwealth Institute, Houston, TX. Vicki and her husband are residents of North Little Rock. When not at work, her favorite days are spent with her three children and three grandchildren.

Karen Wade

Administrative Assistant & Human Resources

Craig Johnson

Manager of Westbrook Funeral Home, Funeral Director & Embalmer

Craig is a licensed funeral director and embalmer. He has been with Smith Family Funeral Homes since 2010.  He is the Manager of the Westbrook Funeral Home and the Sherwood Funeral Home. Outside of work, Craig serves on the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. 

Brent Hill

Funeral Director

Brent, a licensed funeral director and licensed prearrangement counselor, joined the firm in 2000.  Brent produces most of our Life Celebration videos and takes care of the websites and social media. Brent and his wife Connie have six children between them; Amanda Boxley, Stephanie & Thomas Pack, Heather & Matt Johnson, Christopher Tolleson, Shannon Tolleson & Tate; Bethany Brooke Hill; eight grandkids; Mya Belle, Ally & Alex, Tyson, Dovovan, Teddy Tolleson, Lilah Maebry Pack and Thomas “Cade” Pack, two dogs Ms. Sassy and Zoey.  He serves on NLC Creative Production Team and runs the cammate Jib camera. On his days off you may see him flying the friendly skies of Arkansas with his Phantom 3P, P4,P4Pro and Mavic 2 Pro drones.

Billy C. Byrd

Funeral Director

Billy Byrd is a funeral director who has been with Smith Family since 2016.  He specializes in taking care of families during funeral and memorial services.

Daniel Barnhart

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Born in Little Rock and raised in Cabot, Daniel is a native of central Arkansas. He graduated from Cabot High School in 2005, earned his Funeral Director’s license in 2009, and graduated from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service in December 2020. After receiving his license, he lived and worked in Greenbrier and Conway for seven years, serving the families of Faulkner County. He moved back to Cabot in 2017, where he worked for and managed a local funeral home. In November 2019, he joined the staff of Little Rock Funeral Home. Daniel is proud to be serving the families of Little Rock, North Little Rock and the surrounding communities.

His family includes his husband, Andrew; children, Ruthie and Duncan; and fur baby; Sawyer. His hobbies include attending theatre productions, helping Andrew tend to the rose garden and cooking. He is a member of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church and serves on the Neighborhood Shepheard Ministry.

Richard McChain

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Richard, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, joined our firm in 2003.

Richards's wife Sally and he are the proud parents of seven children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. They are members of Center Point Church in Benton. Richard has been in the funeral industry since 1970.

Josh Bridges

Funeral Director

Josh has been with the Smith Family since 2013. He lives near Beebe with his wife and two children.

Jenna Pride

Social Worker

Jenna is a licensed social worker.  She graduated from the Social Work program at University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  In 2009, she began working as a director in social work and case management in medical facilities.  Jenna joined the Smith Family Funeral Home in 2017, bringing her experience in assisting families facing decisions during difficult times and providing grief support.

Sharon Barnes

Bookkeeping Manager

Sharon joined the Smith Family in 2018 but has been serving North Little Rock and Central Arkansas families through church ministry since 1995. She is passionate about helping others know there is life after loss and will be beginning a grief support follow up through our Smith Family Funeral Homes soon. Sharon’s other passion is her family. She and her husband, North Little Rock Police Chaplain David Barnes, have three adult children who also serve their communities: Blake and Shelly Barnes – grandsons Dalton and Garrett, Eric and Amber Barnes – granddaughter Berklee, and Lauren Barnes.

Debbie Russell

Bookkeeper Assistant

Debbie is a receptionist and bookkeeping assistant who joined Smith Family in 2017.

Hannah Beth Cooper

Bookkeeping Assistant

Emory Martin III, CFSP

Care Center & Cremation Center Manager

Emory, a licensed embalmer and funeral director, joined our firm in 2011. He is the manager of Smith Family Care Center along with our Cremation Centers in Little Rock & North Little Rock.  Emory is a CANA certified crematory operator, an honor graduate of ASU – Mountain Home with a degree in Mortuary Science, and a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.

Emory has one daughter, Erica, and is a very proud uncle to Caden, Blayklen, Nicholas & Peyton. He and his spoiled dachshund, Doxie, live in Alexander, Arkansas. Emory is a member of the Central Arkansas Perinatal Loss Coalition, serves on the Association for Death Education & Counseling Credentialing Council, and serves as Board President of Nichols Cemetery Association in Marked Tree, Arkansas. In his free time, he enjoys cruises, road trips, camping and spending time with his family and friends.

Bruce Hawley

Senior Embalmer, Smith Family Funeral Homes

Bruce, a licensed funeral director and our senior embalmer, joined the firm in 2001. He graduated from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1976, and is a certified crematory operator.  He and his wife Lisa have four boys and he is a grandpa to four grandkids. Bruce is a member of Indian Springs Baptist Church. 

Ernnie Flowers

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Ernnie is a licensed funeral director and embalmer who has been with Smith Family since 2016, when Huson Funeral Home became Smith Sherwood Funeral Home. Ernnie graduated from the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope with a funeral service degree and has also earned her embalming license. She is married to Rev. Dr. D.L. Flowers, a pastor of Faithway Baptist Church and a more than 30-year employee of the Arkansas State Police. The couple lives in Little Rock and has two daughters; Marcie, a UAPB graduate, and Kaydee, a senior at UAPB.

Dennis Rothfus

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Dennis is a licensed funeral director and embalmer who joined Smith Family in 2018.

Ashley Manning

Assistant Manager/ Care Center

Ashley is an apprentice embalmer and funeral director, and she joined the team as a part time employee in 2019. She is a recent graduate from Arkansas State University Mountain Home with a degree in Funeral Science. She and her husband Dylan enjoy tending to their vegetable garden, their chickens, and their two dogs, Aubrey and Rico. In her free time, you can find Ashley cooking, outside with her pets, or reading a good book.

Summer Vaughn

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Cole Gwatney

Care Center Assistant

Doug Douchene

Maintenance

Jewel Baxter

Secretary/Receptionist

Jewel, who files all the insurance papers and death certificates among many other duties, joined the staff in 2002. Jewel is a mother of 2 and is a "Nana" to three beautiful grandchildren.

Brenda Hernandez

Receptionist

Brenda has been with Smith family since 2003.  

Lauri Hill

Receptionist/Hostess

Julie Nichols

Receptionist/Hostess

Ruth Lockwood

Receptionist

William A. Smith

Funeral Assistant

Bill Smith has spent most of his career in Trust and Investment banking and working in an Investment Advisory role. Bill grew up in Little Rock, spent several years out of state working for large banks and returned in the late 90's with one of Arkansas's largest banks. Bill received his education having attended both Hendrix College and finishing at UALR. Bill is married to the former Judy Ferguson, having six children, fourteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Bill describes his work at Smith Family Funeral Homes as a "vocation he wishes he had found years ago."

Jodie McGinley

Apprentice Funeral Director

A graduate of Arkansas State University and University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Jodie was an educator until the unexpected loss of one of her twin boys, Eli. It was there that her career path changed and she began serving in the bereavement community of families of infant and child loss for over 10 years. Jodie's family founded the ELI Award: Excellence in Patient & Family Centered Care at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She has the privilege of serving on the Arkansas Infant Loss Coalition, Arkansas Hospital Association Patient & Family Advisory Board, and also serves as a public speaker for ARORA (Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency) and Donate Life America. In her free time, Jodie volunteers for the national non-profit, Molly Bears, and serves as the Worship Leader for Springlake Church. 

Emily Wade

Apprentice Funeral Director

Emily Wade joined Smith Family Funeral Homes in 2020 as an apprentice funeral director. She is working toward receiving her funeral director license next year. Emily’s passion is helping serve families. She is married to Zachary and they have two sons, Sutton and Cooper, and two bunnies, Winnslow and Winnstin.

She and her family attend Life Church in Little Rock. 

David Fogarty

Prearrangement Consultant

David moved to Arkansas from Texas with his wife Kathy in 2012 to be near their children and grandchildren. That is when he began his career in the funeral business after 3 decades in church ministry. When the opportunity became available for him to come to work at Smith-North Little Rock Funeral Home in February of 2015, he “jumped at the chance to work for the best funeral home in Arkansas.” He loves the fact they the employees are encouraged to love and even pray with each other and our customers. David is a licensed prearrangement consultant and has helped dozens of people with their preplanning. He enjoys the opportunity to serve people. 

Gary House

Prearrangement Consultant

Gary is a prearrangement consultant for Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home and American Home Life Insurance Company. He and his wife have three children and is grandpa to two grandchildren. Gary serves as the pastor of Ministry of Caring at McArthur in Jacksonville.

Jennifer Burge

Prearrangement Consultant

Jennifer Michaels is a prearrangement consultant. She joined Smith Family in 2019. Prior to joining the company, she worked as a realtor and she continues to hold her real estate license today. 

Jennifer currently makes her home in the Cabot area but spent most of her life in the Sherwood community. She attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock majoring in business and psychology.

Jennifer is married to William “Bill” Michaels, who is a Lieutenant at the Sherwood Police Department. She has two sons, Cole and Logan, and is the bonus mom to seven other children — Savannah, Renee, Austin, Bentley, Peyton, Lance and Reese.

Jennifer enjoys family lake time as well as reading, gardening and cooking. When she isn’t volunteering in the community she loves cheering on the Razorbacks.

Jeff Hulsizer

Prearrangement Consultant

Jeff is a prearrangement consultant who joined Smith family in 2019. He has been married to Sheila 35 years this June. They have a daughter named Jessica who is an RN in Cabot. She’s married to Matthew and they have three beautiful children, Savannah, Charlotte and Rhet. Their youngest daughter, Jennifer, is a first grade teacher in Benton. Jeff loves music and painting.

Eddie Hunt

Security

Eddie handles security for our night visitations.

Desha McCluskey

Marketing

Kathy Brown

Retired

Kathy, retired 2018 as our bookkeeper and works part-time as a front desk hostess, She started with the funeral home 2005. Kathy and husband Elroy are members of Forest Tower Baptist Church. Mother of two kids Kevin (Meggan) Murphy and the late Tony Murphy. Kathy is known as "Gran" to her grandkids.

Laymon Lawrence

Funeral Director & Embalmer

Laymon, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, joined the firm in 2001 after his retirement from Roller-Owens Funeral Home. Laymon and his wife Ruth live in North Little Rock.

Joseph J. Skretkowicz

Retired Visitation Host

Joe, after retiring from the military, VA Hospital as a therapist, joined the firm in 1987. He and his late wife Regina have two children and five grandchildren. They are members at St. Anne's Catholic Church.

Susan Ross

Retired Secretary/Receptionist

Susan, who answers the phone and performs many clerical duties, joined the staff in 1990.

John & Kay Smith

Former Owners of Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home

Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home was founded February 14, 1955 by Clifford Smith, father of John, who has worked there in some capacity since its inception. John took over management of the funeral home in 1972. Kay, John's wife, has worked at Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home since 1977. Kay oversees the clerical work and helps on services as needed.