Everett Smith, Jr.

Everett Smith, Jr., age 94, of Glenwood, went to be with his Lord on Tuesday, December 23, 2025.

He was born on February 22, 1931, in Aly, Arkansas, the son of Everett Smith, Sr. and Lela McCormick Smith. On December 25, 1952, he was married to Ruth Huxtable Smith who preceded him in death on July 9, 2014. He was also preceded in death by his parents, and his sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Richard Hawthorn.

His calling into funeral service began in 1951 when he was hired as an ambulance driver for Caruth Funeral Home in Hot Springs. His second and very last place of employment would require moving his wife, Ruth, and his eight-year-old son, Tony, kicking and screaming, to some little place called Glenwood where they didn’t know a soul and were leaving absolutely all their extended family behind. After working in the radio broadcast industry for ten years, his son would make a career change and in 1983, came home, joining his Dad to work for Marlin and Louise Davis. Six years later, the Smith family would purchase the funeral home, add their name to the sign and Tony’s wife, Ladonna, would come aboard full-time. Through the years, Davis-Smith Funeral Home would expand to a second location in Hot Springs and add their own on-site crematory in Glenwood. The family operated the facilities until their retirement in 2021. After the sale, Mr. Smith would continue to work for Smith Family Funeral Home (no relation but long-time friends) until the age of ninety-two when his health was failing.

A well-respected man in Arkansas funeral service, he was honored as Arkansas Funeral Director of the Year in 2011 and inducted into the Arkansas Funeral Directors Hall of Fame in 2022. He graduated second in his class from Landig School of Mortuary Science in Houston, Texas, of which he was always proud, and he served in the Arkansas Army National Guard. A long-time member of the Glenwood First Baptist Church, he was ordained as a deacon and served in that position for many years. He was also a member of the Glenwood Masonic Lodge #662. In his community through the years, he has been honored as Citizen of the Year and Businessman of the Year.

He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Tony and Ladonna Smith; his grandson, Alex Smith; his granddaughter, Misti Smith; his great-granddaughters, Gracelyn Faith Smith and Emory Alexandria Smith; his bonus family, his daughter and her husband, Dena and Bruce Burtness all of Glenwood; two granddaughters and their husbands, Courtney and Adam Litchford of Amity, and Kaylee and Rusty Richardson of Alpine; and five great-grandchildren, Sophie Litchford, Wes Litchford, River Richardson, John Leon Litchford, and Canyon Richardson; two sisters-in-law, Nina Broughton and Gail Uriegas, both of Hot Springs; and his very special friend, Nina Coffman of Hopper.

Services will be held at 2:00 PM, Tuesday, December 30, 2025, in the Glenwood First Baptist Church with Dr. Denny Wright and Bro. Bobby Lock officiating.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM, Monday, at the Glenwood First Baptist Church.

Interment will be in Glenwood Cemetery under the direction of Smith Family Funeral Home, Glenwood.

Honorary pallbearers will be his Davis-Smith Funeral Home family, the staff of Dougan’s Oak Park, Dr. Jeffrey Tauth, Dr. Alyssa Peters, Dr. Joshua Lindsey and the staff at CHI St. Vincent Primary Care-Glenwood, the nurses of CHI St. Vincent Health at Home and the nurses and staff of Hospice Home Care. You will never know how much we love and appreciate you.

Memorials may be made to Glenwood First Baptist Church, PO Box 373, Glenwood, Arkansas 71943 or the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association Scholarship Fund, 523 South Louisiana Street, Suite 222, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201.