A memorial service for Wayne A. Smith will be held Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at the Boulevard Congregational &Christian Church, led by Dr. Ralph Alexander.

Arrangements are under direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

Wayne A. Smith, age 94, Lawton, died in Lawton on December 22, 2016.  He was born on October 8, 1922 to Walter and Nell Smith in Roosevelt, Oklahoma.  The family soon moved to Lawton where Walter opened the Walter M. Smith Insurance Agency in 1923.  Wayne went to Lincoln Elementary and Lawton High School where he graduated in the class of 1941. He then went to University of Oklahoma where he graduated with a Business Degree in 1946. He sang in the OU choir then went on to have his own show "Sing Mister Smith" on WKY radio in 1947 & 1948.  He came back to Lawton in 1948, joined his father in the Insurance Agency, and soon after married Mary Jo Botkin on April 23, 1949. They had four children.  He was very active civically as a long-time member of the Optimist Club, Co-Chaired the United Way Fund Drive with Mary Jo in 1988, was President of the Lawton Philharmonic, was on the State board for the Independent Agents for Oklahoma for several terms,  and was City Councilman for Ward 1 in 1973. He was the lead tenor for many years for the Congregational Church and then the Boulevard Church choir.   He was always mentally active, inquisitive and tech-savvy. He learned Spanish and spoke it "reasonably well" and got his Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) insurance designation in 1994.  His career in Insurance spanned 65 years and he was given the Insurance Industry Service Award by the Journal Record in 1995. He was one heck of a golfer placed in several flights at the Lawton Country Club Firecracker Tournaments over the years.  He was a real student of the game.

He was preceded in death by his father Walter and mother Nell Smith and his eldest daughter Meredith Renee Smith.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Jo Smith, of the home; three children: Lisa Smith and Marty Silberman of Brooklyn, NY; Jeff and Alice Smith of Lawton; and Clark Smith of Lawton.  Grandchildren:  Emily Smith of Lawton, Ryan and Stephanie Smith of Edmond;  Zachary Smith of Oklahoma City; Amanda and  Pat Ball of Queens, NY; Renee Murdock of Brooklyn, NY;  Henry Murdock of Brooklyn NY. and one Great-Grandson:  Mason Smith of Edmond, Ok.