Jerry Eugene Smith

Jerry Eugene Smith passed away in Fort Smith, Arkansas on December 13, 2020 at the age of 79. He was born on April 13, 1941 in Watts, Oklahoma to Milton and Lorene Smith.

Jerry is survived by his loving wife, Juanita “Nita” Smith. They were married in Westville, Oklahoma on November 9, 1962 and celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary in 2020.

Jerry is also survived by his three children, Verla Bloomfield of Tulsa, OK, Brian Smith of Austin, TX, and Kelly Ramirez and her husband Tino Ramirez of Dallas, TX. He was a devoted grandfather to Lauren, Brett, Landon, Morgan, Tino, Alex and Tomas.

In addition, he leaves behind his sister, Linda Jones of Watts, OK, sister Betty Freeman of West Siloam Springs, OK and brother, Mike Smith of Siloam Springs, AR.

After attending Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK, he started his finance career in 1964 in Albuquerque, NM and spent his entire professional career in the banking industry.

He was named loan officer at the First National Bank in Sallisaw, OK in the early 70’s and was selected as the Assistant Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of the Morris State Bank in 1977.

He promoted to the position of President of the Morris State Bank in February 1989. While living in Morris, Jerry was an active member of the community, serving as both president of the Lion’s Club but also the Morris Athletic Booster Club. He participated in many community activities in his role with the Morris State Bank.

He returned to First National Bank in Sallisaw as president in the early 1990’s and stayed until his retirement in 2003.

Jerry and Nita loved to travel and made many happy memories taking the grandchildren for vacations at South Padre Beach, TX. More recently, they enjoyed their motor home and spent the winters in Casa Grande, AZ where they made many friends.

Jerry never met a stranger and loved to visit! He was flipping houses before it was cool and was always looking for his next project, actively working until the end. He had a gift of recognizing the potential in a property and bringing that to fruition.

Jerry loved the Lord and his faith was a very important part of his life.

A private ceremony was held by the family.