FOR CONFIDENTIALITY, SOME NAMES MAY NOT BE LISTED HERE. PLEASE KEEP THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS AND OTHERS IN YOUR PRAYERS.
BIRTHS
None at this time
RECENT SURGERIES/HOSPITALIZATIONS
Norman Jones
John Strickland
Dave Lippert
Sonya Dixon
NOW HOME
Linda Hester
Norma Hay
REHAB/EXTENDED CARE
Robbie Robinson
Dee Thomas
Gwen Jenkins
Walt Zulch
DEATHS
Bart Smith
Rob Durden’s mother
UPCOMING SERVICES
Memorial service for Irene Wolf, Saturday, July 6, 10:00 am, Chapel
Memorial service for Rev. Bart Smith, Saturday, July 13, 1 pm, Sancuary
Memorial service for JR Hinkle, Saturday, August 24, 2:00 pm, Sanctuary
OBITUARIES (WITH PERMISSION OF FAMILIES):
Rev. Dr. Arnel Barton Smith, Jr, passed away at his Richardson home on June 28, 2019. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arnel Barton Smith, Sr, and Rochelle Smith, and by his sister, Ronell Cunyus.
Bart was born in Abilene, Texas and grew up in Colorado City, Texas. He was an accomplished high school athlete who played basketball and football, ran track, and served as a lifeguard. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout in high school. During one summer of his college years he fought forest fires in Montana. He also spent a summer working as a congressional elevator operator in Washington, DC, having earned the appointment from his congressman, George Mahon. His job as elevator operator brought him in contact with such notables as Lyndon B. Johnson and Douglas MacArthur.
Bart felt the call to ministry from an early age and faithfully served the Methodist Church before and after the creation of the United Methodist Church in 1968. He shared a birthday with John Wesley, founder of Methodism.
After graduating from McMurry College (now University) in 1962, Bart entered the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He was ordained a deacon in 1963, completed his graduate degree, and was ordained as an elder in 1966. He completed his doctoral degree at Perkins in 1992, specializing in first-person preaching.
Bart served the UMC’s North Texas Conference in churches in Wichita Falls, Cooper, Kaufman, Sherman, Garland, Richardson, DeSoto, Duncanville, Dallas, and Plano. He also served as Conference Youth Director for four years and was a member of many Conference boards and committees. His final appointment was at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, where he was named Pastor Emeritus upon his retirement in 2016.
Bart participated in mission efforts in local churches and in Russia and Cameroon. He and many of his Perkins classmates participated in a March 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bart is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years, Ann, his daughter and son-in-law, Amy and Jeff Doar, his treasured grandson, Robert Barton Doar, his brother-in-law Don Cunyus, his niece Kelly and her husband Jeff Jarrell, his nephew Kevin Glenn and his wife Holly, and great-nieces and nephews.
Bart was an avid traveler, reader, sports fan, and golfer. He loved to meet new people and made connections throughout the area and around the world.
Bart survived a very serious battle with large cell, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2002.
The family would like to thank the medical professionals who gave Bart such wonderful care in the last phase of his life: Dr. Khanh Hoang, cardiologist; Dr. Franklin Casey, internist; Toby Speight, nurse practitioner; and the doctors and nursing staff at Medical City Dallas.
There will be a memorial service to celebrate the life of Reverend Dr. Bart Smith, Pastor Emeritus on Saturday July 13, 2019 at 1:00 P.M. at Christ United Methodist Church, 3101 Coit Road, Plano, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations be made to Boy Scout Troop #261, Cub Scout Pack 200 (both c/o Christ United Methodist Church) or to the Christ United Methodist Church Music Ministry, 3101 Coit Road, Plano, Texas 75075.