Phillip G. Smith
Lincolnville - Phillip G. Smith, 73, passed away October 7, 2022 at Newton Medical Center in Newton. He was born July 26, 1949 in Hillsboro to Percy and Lorene (Symes) Smith.
He married Janet Werner July 3, 1971 in Sisseton, South Dakota. She passed away in 2016.
He married Melissa Wood July 14, 2018 at the Marion Reservoir.
Survivors include: wife Melissa Smith of Rural Lincolnville; sons Mark (Lori) Smith of Rural Lincolnville, Jesse (Ashton) Smith of Pilsen; daughters Amy (Brad) Pagenkopf of Lost Springs, Samantha Wood of Rural Lincolnville; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Celebration of Life 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at the Burdick United Methodist Church in Burdick officiated by Diana Jost. Family will receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Monday at the Lincolnville Community Center.
Memorials to Burdick United Methodist Church or Central Care Cancer Center of Newton, in care of Jost Funeral Home, P.O. Box 266, Hillsboro, KS 67063.
Online condolences at www.jostfuneralhome.com.
Life Sketch Taken from the Funeral Bulletin
Phillip G. Smith, 73, passed away October 7, 2022 at Newton Medical Center in Newton. He was born July 26, 1949 in Hillsboro to Percy and Lorene (Symes) Smith. Phil was baptized April 16, 1950 at the Antelope Methodist Church by Pastor Leslie Wiebe.
He attended Bethel School east of Lincolnville until 6th grade when the school was closed. He then went to school in Lincolnville for 7th and 8th grades before attending high school at Centre, graduating with the class of 1967.
While many of his friends went to college or worked, Phil’s calling led him to enlist in the military to join the airforce. He went to basic training in San Antonio, Texas and then air force tech school for aircraft maintenance turbo prop in Wichita Falls, TX before his tour of duty in Okinawa and Thailand for a year and a half. He spoke so fondly of the people and the culture there being so accepting of their service during the Vietnam War. After finishing his tour of duty he was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota with the 804th transportation squadron.
It was during this time that Phil met Janet Werner through some mutual friends.They were married July 3, 1971 in Sisseton, South Dakota. Phil was honorably discharged February 22, 1972 so he and Jan moved back to Kansas, living in Lincolnville when their daughter Amy was born on their second wedding anniversary. In 1975, Phil and Jan moved out to the farm so Phil could be closer to help with farming, hogs, and cattle with Percy and Lorene, when Mark was born in June of that year. Five years later, Jesse was born.
Phil worked various jobs over the years including AMPI in Hillsboro, Donahue Manufacturing in Durham, and worked as a roughneck for Slusser oil drilling company and on the gas drilling rigs and running gas wells for Ourslers. With Phil’s love of cattle and ranching, he also started backgrounding cattle along with tending his own herd. Circle S Manufacturing was born out of Phil’s talent for metalworking and welding. Many of Phil’s hydraulic squeeze chutes can be seen in operation today across the tri-county area and beyond.
In spite of Phil’s ornery nature, he proudly cared for Jan in their home after her dementia made it necessary for her to have nearly constant care. When Jan moved to the nursing home, Phil was dedicated to seeing her daily, spending time with her and remaining true and loving. Little did anyone know that path would lead him to the next love of his life, Melissa Wood. Melissa lovingly cared for Jan as she got to know Phil. Jan passed away in 2016. Phil and Melissa then began to build their life together, blending their family and giving Phil another daughter, Samantha Wood and two more grandchildren. He married Melissa July 14, 2018 at the Marion Reservoir.
Phil loved his grandchildren, working alongside Braden and Garhett, teaching them to weld at the shop, eventually bringing in Pat Combs who has worked with Phil the past 10 years and has kept Circle S Manufacturing in operation during Phil’s illness and will continue operation in Phil’s honor. Phil’s grandson Daylyn is now learning to weld and work with Pat in the shop.
Family was important to Phil and he enjoyed having gatherings, especially fish frys, which included his granddaughters Elizabeth, Sydney, and Graclyn. A large family garden had also been important to Phil.
Another bond Phil was so proud of was sharing duties through the American Legion in Lincolnville with Braden after Braden joined the National Guard. Phil was an active member of the Legion for 18 years. Phil was also a member of the NRA, enjoyed hunting and fishing which prompted his other business, Woodland Game Bird that he and Melissa have grown into a thriving business raising quail and a variety of other birds and working his bird dogs.
Phil leaves behind family and friends who are filled with memories and stories that Phil loved to tell, even sharing stories and orneriness on his last day of life.
Survivors include: wife Melissa Smith of Rural Lincolnville; sons Mark (Lori) Smith of Rural Lincolnville, Jesse (Ashton) Smith of Pilsen; daughters Amy (Brad) Pagenkopf of Lost Springs, Samantha Wood of Rural Lincolnville; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Celebration of Life 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at the Burdick United Methodist Church in Burdick officiated by Diana Jost. Family will receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Monday at the Lincolnville Community Center.
Memorials to Burdick United Methodist Church or Central Care Cancer Center of Newton.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Phillip, please visit our floral store.