Neal Bass Smith

Born a son of the Great Depression on July 10, 1934, Neal became a Renaissance Man. At his core, Neal was a tinkerer, a junker, and a creative, old soul with a young man’s twinkle in his eyes until his final day.

Above all that, Neal was a Christian. He considered it his true life’s work to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to serve as an encourager to others who did the same. He was a part-time preacher, a Bible teacher, an elder at six different churches of Christ, and, perhaps most of all, a mentor to dozens of his “preacher boys” who got scores of “attaboys” and “keep on keepin’ ons” from Neal to spur them to spread the Good News.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, he was raised on his family’s farm in what is now the west Nashville suburbs. He caught a ride into town to attend both David Lipscomb High School and David Lipscomb College. He acknowledged in his later years his shyness and feelings of inferiority of “a kid from a farm with no running water” going to the city for school with the kids who had much more.

But the shyness didn’t stop him from pursuing a young lady named Barbara Jean Elrod. On April 26, 1957, Neal and Barbara married. They lived, loved each other, and worked together from that day until she passed in March 2022.

After graduating from David Lipscomb College, Neal and Barbara moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where he served as a preacher at a church he helped start. He also worked as a furniture and insurance salesman. While there, he became convicted that he should help encourage preaching but leave that work to others. Through the years, he was always happy to fill a pulpit or teach a class until age and health caught up to him.

While living in Asheville, Neal and Barbara adopted their daughters Tifinie and Tiara, who felt the warm love and care that their parents extended to all.

It was in Asheville that a fellow brother in Christ suggested he take a job with the U.S. Forest Service as an administrator. It would lead to a career in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; West Chester, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C, and finally Berkeley, California. He retired from the Forest Service and tried the stay-at-home retirement – but not for long. Barbara worked each day in the superintendent’s office of the Contra Costa School District, and Neal quickly realized that while he was eligible for retirement, he wasn’t ready. So, he opened a flower shop near Berkeley, which appealed to his creative side.

His yards were always immaculate with trimmed grass, flowers, and plants that routinely earned “Yard of the Month” honors. He liked tinkering with things. He would find antique bowls and vases and fashion them into lamps. He made ornate coffee tables. He could repair broken China, which would be difficult for anyone to see where the flaw was. He was a fastidious dresser. He rarely was seen at church without a coat and tie – even a bowtie properly knotted on the last Sunday his health would allow him to attend.

As a child of the Great Depression, he always sought ways to repurpose something without buying something else. He was all about recycling before the world took it up as a crusade. But he wasn’t opposed to buying things – he was a spirited junker and antique collector. Through the years, Neal and Barbara accumulated scores of sets of China and glass and porcelain pieces. It was more than a hobby. It was a challenge. He loved going to Eastbrook Flea Market and Antique Mall, and other area antique stores to scour each nook and cranny for an exceptional buy. He usually found what he was looking for – and plenty of things he hadn’t been looking for.

He was more than a student of the Bible; he was a practitioner of it. He would tell you his favorite book of the Bible was Acts of the Apostles because “it’s all there. It’s how Christianity began.” Throughout his adult life, Neal strived to emulate the work done by members of the first century church of the New Testament. More than that, Neal strived to emulate Jesus Christ.

Throughout his travels, he led through service and ultimately ended up for his final three decades in Montgomery, Alabama, where his daughter Tiara resided. It is also where his dear friend and Christian brother John Burch lived until recently. Neal and John served as elders together in Annandale, Virginia, and in Montgomery at Perry Hill Road church of Christ. Neal and Barbara, along with John and Betty Burch, set an example to all of love, encouragement, and hospitality. Throughout his adulthood, he served as an elder in Annandale, Virginia; Exton, Pennsylvania; Pinole, California; Napa, California; Perry Heights, Tennessee, and Perry Hill Road in Montgomery.

Neal loved to sing. Gifted with a lilting tenor voice, he was a frequent song leader at churches he attended. Because he had “found a friend in Jesus who was everything to” him, Neal loved “Lily of the Valley.” But his true favorite is the old hymn, “Meet Me There.”

On the happy, golden shore,

Where the faithful part no more,

When the storms of life are o’er,

Meet me there.

When the night dissolves away

Into pure and perfect day,

I am going home to stay,

Meet me there.

Meet me there,

Meet me there,

Where the tree of life is blooming,

Meet me there.

On the happy golden shore,

Where the faithful part no more,

Meet me there.

Neal was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Barbara Jean Elrod Smith, daughter Tifinie Smith, his parents Finis Ewing “Jack” Smith, Jr., and Edna Earle Bass Smith, his brother Edward Smith and wife June, and his sister Nancy Smith Waddey.

He is survived by his daughter Tiara Smith Kent (George), grandchildren Jerome Henry (Becca), Jefferson Henry, Olivia Kent, Emily Kent, and Whitman Kent ( Maddy), and nephew Eric Edward Smith (Tammy). His caregivers became family to him, and Neal and his immediate family will always consider Sylvia Riley, Shantell Riley, Kayla Riley, Maria Harris, Betty Foster, and Mary White part of their family.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, August 30, at Leak Memory Funeral Home in Montgomery. There will be no visitation. Burial will be at 12:20 p.m. Friday at Alabama Heritage Cemetery in Montgomery. One of Neal’s beloved “preacher boys,” Marshall McDaniel, will officiate.

Neal probably should have passed a year or two earlier than he did. He fought it off, but not because he was fearful of death. He just wanted to make sure that others he knew and loved would be joining him in Heaven. More than anything, Neal would say to you, “Meet me there.”