On February 6, 2022, Rick Smith, beloved husband and father, passed away surrounded by family at his home in Silverton, Oregon. He was sixty-seven years old.

Rick was a well-loved newspaper writer for forty years, most of which were spent at the San Angelo Standard-Times. The son of Betty Jane and Bernell “Doc” Smith, he grew up in San Angelo but considered all of West Texas his hometown.

He said he found his calling early in life when he began writing for the Standard-Times a year after graduating from Central High School. He started at the paper as a sportswriter in 1973 while attending Angelo State University. He got his first taste of writing about West Texans while reporting on football games all over the region. By 1975 he began his first column, Texas Morning, where he found his voice and started crafting the stories that San Angeloans grew to love so well.

He met his wife and the love of his life, June Ann Hubbell, on the steps of the Angelo State University library in 1973, and they were married on June 18, 1977 in Fort McKavett.

After graduating from Angelo State University with a degree in journalism and several years with the paper under his belt, Rick joked that he had a Ph.D. in West Texasology. But he also said he’d found that the best part of newspapering wasn’t the writing itself- it was the way it introduced him to the people of his home, or as he put it, “the roughnecks and rodeo riders, the storekeeps and bartenders, the bachelor ranchers and elderly short story writers, the tractor mechanics and crop dusters, the welders, dancers, dog catchers, cow doctors, windmill repairmen, preachers, poachers, and poets.”

Rick and June’s adventures together took them from San Angelo to Austin, where June completed her Ph.D. in communication while Rick followed and worked on his first play, Sideshow. Sideshow went to Washington, DC as the American College Theater Festival winner in April of 1978.

In 1980, Rick and June moved to Canyon, where June taught at West Texas State University and Rick wrote for the Canyon News. Next, they moved to Sherman, where their two daughters were born as June taught at Austin College and Rick wrote for the Sherman Democrat. The couple later said that they always knew San Angelo was home, however, and in 1990 they returned to raise their family.

Rick was welcomed back to the Standard-Times and his weekly column soon became a favorite staple for West Texans, who opened the paper to read about his experiences rafting the Rio Grande, searching for the Marfa Lights, taste-testing chili cookoffs in Terlingua, and attending parades and calf ropings and celebrations in Eldorado and Eden, Mason and Mertzon, and dozens of places in between. His column at the Standard-Times ran for the next twenty-five years until he retired due to early-onset dementia in 2015.

His writing connected him with the community, but his other interests and loves were what made him so unique. After he and June moved back to San Angelo, he started a tradition of friends gathering at their home to read their poetry, short stories, or perform music. The gathering was christened Club Sandwich for some reason no one can remember, and grew to include friends from the paper, June’s friends from the university, and other friends and acquaintances. The only rule of Club Sandwich was that if you attended, you had to perform, no matter how badly.

Rick also loved the family farm in Ballinger and spent years working on clearing trails, building small footbridges, dabbling in found sculpture projects, and planting trees at the farm. Many weekends he could be found out there, working on a never-ending roster of projects to beautify his favorite piece of West Texas.

His love of exploring never left him, and he hiked, biked, camped and canoed all over Texas. He especially loved his many adventures hiking Lost Maples, canoeing down the Concho River, climbing Guadalupe Peak, camping in the Davis Mountains, and all of the above in Big Bend. He especially treasured trips where he spent time with his brothers Gary and Mike.

When Rick was diagnosed with dementia several years ago, the Standard Times, his community and family rallied around him. The Smith family is forever grateful to all those at the Standard Times who helped and guided us at the beginning of this journey. Also, we are thankful to all the kind members of the community and Good Shepherd Anglican Church who offered support. In 2020, when Rick’s condition got to the point where he required constant care, he and June moved to Oregon to be with their two daughters. Even though Rick forgot all the things he once knew so well about the highways and byways of his beloved home, he never lost his gentle nature and love for his family.

Rick is survived by his wife of forty-four years, June Hubbell Smith, his daughter, Annie Smith, his daughter Kate and son-in-law Ivan Durrant, all of Silverton, Oregon, his brothers Gary Smith of Phoenix, Arizona and Mike Smith of Temple, Texas, and his sisters-in-law Mandy Smith and Laura Smith, brother-in-law Carl Hubbell and sister-in-law Shelia and eight nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to your favorite charity, your favorite animal rescue organization, or that anyone interested in honoring Rick’s memory consider subscribing to their local paper.

Most of all, Rick left a legacy of noticing and celebrating the ordinary, everyday beauty in life. He found a story in everything, no matter how seemingly insignificant- a lost dog, a retired teacher reminiscing, or a stand of bluebonnets by the side of the road.

As Rick wrote, “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: more good than bad happens. Why don’t we read about it in the newspaper? Because so much good happens that it’s not called “news”—it’s called ordinary life.” 

It has been a collective labor of love these last few years. The family is forever grateful to the following for their support during this journey: San Angelo Standard-Times; Angelo State University; Concho Valley Area Agency on Aging; Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd; Joy Gibbs, FNP and her team at West Texas Medical Associates;  Willamette Valley Hospice; Senior Helpers of Salem, Oregon; Griefshare teams at First Methodist Church, Glen Meadows Baptist and the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd; and all of the friends, neighbors, extended family, and medical professionals who cared for Rick and our family and made his last years meaningful. A special thanks also to Reverand Glenn and Mollie Polhemus. 

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