Charles Edward Smith

Charles Edward Smith passed away in the early morning hours of 23 April 2024 at the home of his son Gerald Wayne Smith in Woodbury, Minnesota. Charles was born 30 September 1941, the son of Joseph Leon Smith (1898-1983) and Lucille Bailey Smith (1899-1982). He was preceded in death by his wife, Kathie Maria Andrus Smith (1940-2019). Charles was the last surviving child of Joseph Leon Smith, whose first wife Elsie Mary Bradbury Smith (1899-1939), was the mother of Charles’ half-siblings: Marie, Sterling, Barbara, and Vance.

Charles grew up working on his family’s farm in Draper, Utah where he also attended public schools and excelled academically. In his formative years he became very active in the Boy Scouts of America, and with the encouragement and support of his parents and his Scoutmaster Paul Johnson, he became an Eagle Scout. After graduating from Jordan High School, Charles attended Brigham Young University (BYU). As a freshman he became reacquainted with his future wife whom he had known as a child in kindergarten and first grade. They both attended BYU and dated before Charles was called to serve a two-and-ahalf year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France and Belgium. Ironically, his future wife was also called shortly after that to serve in the same mission, where they were assigned to different areas. They exchanged letters by mailing them home to their respective families who would then resend them to the intended recipient in France or Belgium.

Upon returning home from their missions, they resumed dating, got engaged, and were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 5 June 1964. Charles then returned to BYU, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French and a minor in mathematics. He continued his education at BYU in the Graduate School of Management, where he received a Master of Business Administration degree in 1967. It was during his graduate studies that his first son, Byron Charles Smith, was born in 1966. After receiving his MBA, Charles accepted his first professional post as a commercial loan officer at a bank in Chicago, Illinois. He then moved his family in June of 1967 to Brookfield, Illinois, where his second son, Gerald Wayne Smith, was born in 1969. After that he purchased his first home in Western Springs, Illinois. While he lived there, his third son, Scott Randall Smith, was born in 1973. In 1976 he purchased his second home in Western Springs, and after that his fourth son, Benjamin Brett Smith, was born in 1984.

In addition to Charles’ professional positions at executive and senior management levels of commercial banks in the greater Chicago area, he held many positions of ecclesiastical trust as a lay minister for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On 22 November 1970 he was ordained to the office of high priest by Dallin H. Oaks, who currently serves as the first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among the callings Charles accepted for the church was the office of bishop for the Westchester Ward in suburban Chicago. His love of Scouting continued into his adult life with him serving as a Scoutmaster, committeeman, chairman, and council executive board member. On 26 February 2004 he received the Silver Beaver Award for his lifelong dedication to the mission of the Boy Scouts of America.

After retiring from the banking industry, he moved with his wife, Kathie, to Woodbury, Minnesota, where they purchased a new home that they used as a base for their travels to visit their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. Charles is survived by his four sons, Byron (Kathryn), Gerald (Kristen), Scott (Laurie), and Ben (Natasha), eleven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held in the chapel located at 12353 South, 600 East in Draper, Utah on 11 May 2024. A viewing will be held there at 10:00 am, and the memorial service will follow at 11:00 am. The interment will follow at Draper City Cemetery, where his body will be laid to rest next to the grave of his wife Kathie.