Stephen D Smith

Stephen Daniel Smith, known to his friends and family as Steve, passed away in Mesquite, Nevada, on December 21, 2023, just shy of his 78^th birthday on January 1 (1946).  He spent his childhood in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where he attended the Lutheran grade school and graduated from Cape High School. Steve also attended Southeastern College there before moving to Moberly and then Kansas City, where he worked as an assistant manager at F.W. Woolworths. In 1966, Woolworth’s transferred Steve to Dallas, Texas, where he opened and worked in management at a new high-end concept store, Woolco.

  Over the years in Kansas City and Dallas, Steve displayed his talents in several careers in merchandising, radio, computer programming, funeral services, the oil business, hospitality, and floral design.  He had the pleasure of creating master programming tapes for the Gordon McClendon national radio stations, teaching computer programming at the University of Computing Sciences, and working at Control Data.  At Restland of Dallas, Steve worked in pre-need sales. After that, he worked in visual merchandising at Sears Valley View before moving into the oil business. For many years, he performed accounting at the Harvey Oil Company.

Steve and his life partner of 53 years, Chuck Bard, were entrepreneurs.  Steve owned an employment agency in Irving, Texas.  Together, Steve and Chuck co-owned and operated two other successful businesses.  Douglas-Daniels was their catering company, but their pride and joy was The Charles Stephens Company, a special events floral enterprise in Addison, a suburb of Dallas.  Steve and Chuck designed and decorated venues for dozens (perhaps hundreds) of brides in North Texas and were two of the principal floral designers for many years for the Texas Oil Baron’s Ball.  Steve and Chuck closed their business in 1995. They spent the rest of their lives enjoying travel together throughout the U.S., occasionally taking on floral projects for friends and family.

Steve had many passions, including piloting small aircraft, music and musical theater, restoring old cars and furniture, and genealogy.  He danced in off-Broadway productions at the Starlight Theater in Swope Park. In Kansas City, you could find Steve on KCMO radio, spinning records as a late night and weekend D.J.  Steve once found a baby grand piano in pieces and restored it to a showpiece for their home.  Though he could not read music, he could make that baby grand’s keyboard sing with his chords and enjoyed when others played it masterfully. Steve loved his 1948 Buick dubbed Black Mariah and the 1955 Buick he kept garaged in Dallas and took out for Sunday drives.  In later years, you could find him at the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale.   Steve could repair anything, including the Cadillac limousine used in their business and the motor coach shared with Chuck for 30 years as they traveled the country. Depending on the season, they particularly enjoyed Texas and burning the road from Phoenix to Las Vegas to St. George, Utah, where the couple spent many happy years.

Steve is survived by Chuck, as well as two brothers and sisters-in-law, Fred and Marni Smith of Pecatonica, Illinois; George and Joyce Smith of Midlothian, Texas; and sisters-in-law Louise Wyatt of Ada, Oklahoma; and Delores and Dallas Fowler of Geneva, Nebraska; and many across the country and elsewhere who called him uncle.  Preceding him in death were his parents, Oscar E. and Allene D. (Engel) Smith, his brother Eugene Smith and his wife Debbie, his sister Marion and her husband Bobby Hitt, and his brother-in-law Bob Wyatt. 

 Steve was a patron of The National Trust for Historic Preservation because of his love of historical architecture.  He also contributed to the Statute of Liberty Foundation and the Richardson Texas Symphony.  We will remember Steve for his keen sense of humor, copious notetaking, and organizational skills. Steve was a very kind-hearted, spiritual, and intuitive person. He was loved and will be missed dearly.

Davis Funeral Home, 6200 South Eastern Avene, Las Vegas, Nevada, handled the cremation.  Please celebrate his life with your private memorials and know that you were loved.