Harlan Hargrove Smith

"Harlan Hargrove Smith, 69, of Baton Rouge entered eternal rest on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge. Harlan was born October 13, 1947, in Oakdale to the union of Murphy Collier Smith and Bobbye Hargrove Smith. The baby of the family, he grew up alongside his four siblings enjoying the outdoors and the endless adventures of small-town life. He graduated from Oakdale High School in 1965, attended Northwestern State University of Louisiana for two years and graduated from Louisiana State University in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in general studies. He married his high school sweetheart, Sandra (Sandy) Wilson Smith, who became the mother of his three children and his partner through life. Together, they enjoyed cheering on the LSU Tigers, watching their family grow and traveling regularly. Second only to his family was his love of music, a love which spanned his entire life starting from his days playing saxophone in the Oakdale High School Warrior Band. In his later years, he regularly traveled to Branson, Missouri, with his wife to hear his favorite bluegrass and gospel bands. He was a Baptist by faith and accepted Jesus as his Savior as a young boy. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother William Robert Smith, and his father-in-law and mother-in-law Millard S. and Mildred H. Wilson. Those left behind to cherish his memory include his wife Sandy of 49 years; daughter Beth Smith Fontenot and her husband Todd of Lake Charles; two sons Harlan Hargrove (Johnny) Smith, Jr., of Baton Rouge and Todd Wilson Smith and his wife Betsy of Zachary; seven grandchildren Jonathan, Lauren, Emily, Michael, Jacob, Madelynn and Zachary; two great-grandchildren Cayden and Cecily; sisters Lona Smith Dowies, Jan Smith Brooks and Cynthia Smith Standish; two brothers Murphy Collier (M.C.) Smith, Jr., and Paul Hinson Smith; a stepbrother, an uncle, and numerous stepsisters, nieces, nephews and cousins. Two visitations will be observed, one in Baton Rouge on Friday, March 24, from 5 to 9 p.m. at Rabenhorst East Funeral Home, 11000 Florida Blvd., and one in Oakdale on Monday, March 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at White Oaks Funeral Home, 110 South 12th St. Services celebrating Harlan's life will be held on Monday, March 27, at 1 p.m. in the White Oaks Memorial Chapel with the Reverend William R. Smith, II, officiating. Burial will follow in Creel Memorial Gardens in Reeves under the direction of White Oaks Funeral Home. His family asks that those left behind honor his memory by spending time with their own loved ones. In lieu of flowers, they ask that donations be sent to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation and . "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1