Larry Richard Smith

After a 17 month hospice journey due to congestive heart failure, Larry passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of April 22, 2025 at the home of his children.

Larry spent his early years playing in the yards of various aunts and uncles. He enrolled in the Texas School for the Deaf along with his cousins and graduated from TSD in 1958. During his school days Larry played football and was involved in various clubs and activities on campus. His grandfather and several uncles worked for the railroad, so he would sometimes go home on school breaks with his cousins via rail. During the summers he would get into all kinds of mischief with his younger brother Ronald P Smith when they would visit the farms and ranches where relatives lived. The annual family reunion was especially important to reconnect with those relatives he had not been able to see during the school year. He had fond memories of these times with his large extended families and was a sought-after dominoes partner at these events.

Larry also developed a deep passion for the Texas Longhorns when the UT football team donated equipment to TSD after a fire in the school’s gym. He frequently told stories of getting to wear white jerseys with burnt orange numbers instead of the TSD colors of blue and white. An article in the San Angelo Record Times said: “For 2 seasons Larry played lineman behind the first stringers who had much more experience and weight, but his Junior year the tide shifted. Larry took his place as an all-around lineman. He played guard, tackle, center, and end. The TSD school paper said of him “His is a perfect example of the rewards of desire, determination, and hard work for a boy who does not happen to be a “natural born ”star athlete.”

After he graduated from TSD, Larry went to work for various newspapers as a delivery man and eventually a pressman for the San Angelo Record Times, Big Spring Herald, Washington Post, and Austin American Statesman.

He married Sandra Barnes-Smith, a high school classmate, in 1963 with whom he had 2 children, Perry Lloyd Smith and Beth Jo Smith, now of Garland, Texas. After the 5-month Washington Post pressmen's union strike ended in 1976 and the technology changed, Larry moved on to work in a variety of other professions and roles including being a key punch operator for a bank in Austin, a bread baker, a houseparent at TSD and volunteer coach, as well as a residential staff member at the Southwest Center for the Hearing Impaired in San Antonio. Larry moved back to west Texas and worked for the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf (Now known as Southwest College for the Deaf) as the men’s dorm director until his retirement.

Larry later married Patsy Covington of Fort Worth and enjoyed the company of her extended family until she passed away in 2017. They were involved in Legacy Church of Christ’s Deaf Ministry, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Deaf Senior Citizens social group during their marriage.

He married Sheila Watson on April 19, 2018. He and Sheila resided in the Rendon/Crowley area near Mansfield and were involved in the deaf ministry at First Baptist Church Mansfield as well as Fort Worth Deaf Seniors.

Larry is survived by his 2 children, son Perry Lloyd Smith of Garland and daughter Beth Jo Smith of Garland, his wife Sheila Watson-Smith, and a multitude of those hardy West and Central Texas born-and-raised cousins, in-laws, nieces and nephews, and their extended families, to all of whom he was beloved and cherished.

In Lieu of flowers or plants, please make a charitable contribution in Larry’s memory to American Heart Association, reputable Alzheimer's/Dementia organizations, or the charity of your choice.

Perry and Beth wish to express deep gratitude to the hospice nurses, aides, and social workers who assisted us in caring for our father very well in his final months.