Obituary of Rock Ray Smith

Life doesn’t offer guarantees but life does bestow gifts that continue to live on long after we are gone.

The gift of love and memories are left by Rock Ray Smith. He passed away at home on September 17, 2020, five days before his 66th birthday. His wife of 25 years, Joan Howey, was by his side. He fought a short but heartbreaking struggle with lung cancer.

A native Pacific Northwesterner, his plans for an active retirement would have included fishing, wood working, flying his radio-controlled planes, spending time at home working in his shop and walking his dogs that he loved.

Always eager to lend a helping hand, he was a skilled craftsman and a talented carpenter. He enjoyed his profession, was admired by his coworkers and appreciated by his friends for his giving nature. There was nothing he couldn’t build, remodel, design or repair.

He is survived by his wife Joan, his son, Ryan Smith, his brother Breck Smith, and sister Roxanne Marlin.

“Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.”