michael lee smitherman
Funeral
services for Michael Lee Smitherman, 60, of Longview will be held at 10
a.m. Saturday, April 10, 2010 in the Chapel of Rader Funeral Home of
Longview with the Reverend Charles Hunt officiating. Burial will follow
in Rosewood Park, Longview. He passed away Thursday, April 8, 2010 in a
Longview hospital.Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
Mike was born December 28, 1949 in Longview to D.A. and Ruby Crain Smitherman. He attended school in Hallsville where he was a 1968 graduate of Hallsville High School. While he was a Junior and Senior at Hallsville, he was asked to drive a school bus, which he did with great excitement. He attended welding school in Longview. Mike served in the U. S. Navy during Vietnam and served his entire time aboard the U. S. S. Enterprise as a radar man. Following and automobile accident in 1978 that left him a quadriplegic, he was cared for by his loving parents and numerous other loving caregivers. He was a Christian and was a member of Woodland Hills Baptist Church. He loved the Lord and told others about Him at every opportunity.
He was preceded in death by his father, D. A. Smitherman and his brother, Danny Smitherman.
Those left to cherish his memory are his loving mother, Ruby C. Smitherman of Longview; brothers and sisters-in-law, Claude and Ruby B. Smitherman of Longview and Clyde and Mary Smitherman of West Monroe, LA; nephews, Rodney Smitherman and wife Tabitha of Longview, Marc Smitherman and wife Stacey of Dallas, John David Smitherman and wife Christie of Allen, TX, Calvin Golden and wife Vickie and Paul Golden and wife Cindy all of West Monroe, LA; nieces, Donna McMellon of Sims, TX and Paula Golden of West Monroe.