Gene Smith Jr. Obituary

Gene Wilcox Smith Jr., 82, of Elk City, Oklahoma was born on January 5, 1943 in Sayre, Oklahoma. He is the son of Gene Wilcox Smith Sr. and Virginia Belle Smith (Campbell). Gene passed through the pearly white gates to meet his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, July 16, 2025 at Great Plains Regional Hospital, Elk City, Oklahoma surrounded by his loving family.

He attended school in Clinton until the age of twelve when his family moved to Elk City, Oklahoma. While attending Elk City Public Schools he was selected to attend Boys State and was elected President of the Junior Class. Gene was the starting quarterback for the Elk City Elks his junior and senior years, with a 16-4 record, and he served as Student Council President his senior year. He chose to attend the University of Oklahoma where he served as Vice-President then as President of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. Gene knew he wanted to go into the Air Force after college and was very involved with ROTC where his senior year he held the rank of colonel in ROTC and was selected as Vice Wing Commander (#2 in rank) of the Air Force ROTC Wing comprised of 8,000 students. Upon his graduation from OU, Gene was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the USAF. Gene attended USAF pilot training at Vance Airforce Base in Enid. Upon his completion of pilot training, he was assigned to fly C130 transports in Southeast Asia. He completed fourteen months service in Vietnam combat zone and returned to the United States, where he supported the USAF mission in South America and Europe. He was an aircraft commander in the C130 for the Tactical Air Command.

Upon completion of five years of service, Gene and his wife Linda, returned to Elk City to join his father in the Chevrolet business. There he provided leadership at the local and state levels.

Gene was active in the United Methodist Church where he served as Chairman of the Administrative Board for three years and as Chairman of the Staff Parish Committee for fifteen years. He has served as Chairman of the Youth Council for ten years, Finance Chair three years, and has taught Sunday school for twenty-five years.

For twenty-six years Gene has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Great Plains Regional Medical Center where he has served as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Board. He has been President of the Sports Association and also served two terms on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

He was twice a co-chair of the OU Parents Association, President of the Elk City Alumni Foundation and Chairman of the Elk City All School Reunion for over twenty years. Gene has been the President of the Elk City High School Memorial Foundation, which administers a trust fund for scholarships for high school students to attend college. He has been a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Elk City Golf and Country Club, and is a lifetime member of the American Legion and the VFW.

On the state level, Gene has long been an active member of the Oklahoma Auto Dealers Association and was the first two-time Chairman of the OADA. He was honored with the OADA President's award for Outstanding Leadership and Community Action in1997. Gene served as the Chairman of the Dealers Election Action Committee for sixteen years and in 2008 his dealership was honored as Time Magazine Quality Dealer of the Year! He was elected to the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) Board of Directors in 2008 (one dealer per state) and reelected in 2015. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Southeast Region for the NADA. Gene was truly a leader in action.

Family will receive friends, Monday, July 21, 2025 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Martin-Dugger Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Elk City, Oklahoma. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 22, 2025 at First United Methodist Church, Elk City, Oklahoma. Rev. Scott Rogers will officiate; Rev. Danny Ringer will assist. Interment will be at Fairlawn Cemetery, Elk City, Oklahoma. Services have been entrusted to the care of Richard and Tammy Dugger and the staff of Martin-Dugger Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Elk City, Oklahoma.

Cherishing his memory is his wife of fifty-five years, Linda of the home; son, Jeff Smith and his wife, Whitney of Edmond, Oklahoma; daughter, Erin Smith of Dallas, Texas; two grandchildren, Bennett Smith and Grayson Smith of Edmond, Oklahoma; sister, Dana Herring of Yukon, Oklahoma.

Gene is preceded in death by his parents, Gene and Virginia; brother-in-law, Larry Herring.

Memorials can be made to Meals on Wheels or the American Legion Post, Elk City, Oklahoma in care of Martin-Dugger Funeral Home, P.O. Box 707, Elk City, Oklahoma 73648.

We invite you to leave a message of condolence, expression of sympathy or perhaps share a memory of Gene at www.martin-duggerfuneralhome.com.

The family would like to invite all that cannot attend to watch the service live on Martin-Dugger Funeral Home and Cremation Services website.