Richard Kimball Smith

Richard was born June 6, 1944, in Paso Robles, California, to William Smith and Muriel Jean Martin. He grew up in Kettering, Ohio with his caring, loving parents. His mother provided a loving, supportive home where they lived with extended family during his youth. His father gave him an appreciation of the fruits of hard work and leisure activities; his mother shared a love of reading and imagination. Dick had two half-siblings who predeceased him, Molly Ann Smith and John Smith III.

Richard was charismatic and had many friends who would say he was charming, a blessing, and knew how to have a wonderful, inspiring conversation. He loved to dance in High School, was on American Bandstand, and participated in the high school chorus and theater. He graduated from Fairmont HS to go on to further education at numerous institutions, including Allan Hancock JC, West Coast University, and Antioch. He earned his master’s degree in public administration management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He was a fellow at MIT in the Advanced Engineering Study Center. Later, he attended Pepperdine University studying for his doctorate.

In Ohio, Richard met the love of his life, Carol Randolph. After climbing cliffs, swimming in the rivers, and riding around in her T-bird, they married on February 25, 1963. Richard fell in love with his wife because of her humor, adventurous spirit, and self-confidence. Her curious nature and fiercely protective attitude toward family were the foundations for their love and our family. Their life together was filled with education, travel, and family because Richard and Carol shared a passion for learning, traveling, and experiencing life. Taking his family to Belize, Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, Spain, or Mexico, he loved to travel and experience life to the fullest. Their marriage was filled with adventure, love, education, joy, and together they raised two children: Susan and Rick.

An Air Force Veteran, Richard was a devoted family man, civil servant, and man of deep intellect and faith in experiences. He was stationed at AFBs in Mississippi, Japan, Vandenberg AFB, California, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and Washington, DC. Richard lived a wonderful life dedicated to service, learning, and love. He is survived by his beloved wife and life partner, Carol; daughter, Susan; his son Rick and daughter-in-law Renée; and his cherished grandson, Isaac.

He served in Korea and Japan, where his experiences led to his dedication to service, Honor, knowledge, and family throughout his life. He worked as a computer specialist in California, where they settled in Lompoc, CA. His last duty assignments were at the Pentagon and Hanscom AFB, where he retired. During his career, he also became an adjunct professor of Applied Sciences, quality technology lecturer, adjunct professor in Computer Science, and Industrial professor of IT. He believed that there was no such thing as a bad job; there were only opportunities to learn something new.

Richard’s greatest joys were his family. He celebrated his wife and his children’s achievements. The birth of his grandson, Isaac, was a gift that gave him hope for the future. In his free time, Richard enjoyed motorcycling, traveling to all 50 states and around the world. He was an avid reader and passionate about education. He wanted to share and celebrate his core values, which were God, family, duty, honor, and happiness. Find a balance between work and leisure and to find the best option from available alternatives when faced with a challenge.

Richard has now joined his parents, aunts, uncles, many friends, and loved ones in heaven, where he was joyfully greeted and welcomed. His legacy lives on through the family he loved, his dedication to service, and strong work ethic. He will be remembered by the countless lives he touched with his huge heart, listening ear, love, and honest, caring, inspirational conversations; the best hugs ever; his beautiful smile, blue eyes, and the wink! We celebrate our inspiring father, a model of love, who guided us with patience and inspiration. Winkin, Blinking and Nod ~ YKIYK.

Service for Richard will be held on August 21, 11 am at the Tobias Funeral Home, 5471 Far Hills Ave, Dayton, OH. Burial will be at the Woodland Cemetery following the service. Celebration of life will be held in Nashua, NH at a later date in October 2026.

Flowers may be sent to his service at Tobias Funeral Home listed above, or charitable donations made to the Spinal Cord Program, Recreation Therapy Unit at Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center, located at 5901 East 7th Street, Building 50, Long Beach, CA 90822, in his name.