Thomas "Tommy" Harlan Smith

Thomas Harlan Smith of Groesbeck passed away Friday, February 26, 2016 at Groesbeck LTC. Visitation will be held Monday, February 29, 2016 from 6-8 P.M. at the Groesbeck Funeral Home. Funeral services will held at 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 in the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain Bob Harr officiating. Burial will follow in the Ft. Parker Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Kenneth Wietzikoski, Mike Wietzikoski, Mark Lynd, Terry Stewart, David Tawater, Bob Coffee, Ron Fritz, and Dennis Wilson. Honorary pallbearers will be Johnny Walton, Dwain Popejoy, Rand Bates, Kyle Schrader, Marcus Ray Hanna, Robert Tawater, Sammy Tawater, the DQ “coffee bunch”, and the GHS Class of 1959. Thomas, known by all as Tommy, was born January 12, 1941 to William Earl Smith and Vivian Virginia Gillmore Smith in Groesbeck, Texas. Tommy graduated from Groesbeck High School in 1959. After graduation he drove the delivery trucks for Mrs. Baird’s Bread and Pure Milk, where he met long-time friend Raymond Wietzikoski. He was a cattle rancher until 1978. He sold insurance with National Life for several years and retired from Lance, Inc. Tommy loved to socialize with his friends around Groesbeck and was a favorite at the hospital cafeteria and the Dairy Queen. Until his health deteriorated in early 2015, he had a typical daily routine. He started every morning at the hospital cafeteria, stopped by Raymond’s Shell, and then went back to his house for a while; but once 2:00 neared, he was sure to be headed to Dairy Queen and visited there until he left to go to his girlfriend Linda’s house for dinner. Tommy was an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and enjoyed any college football game that was on. He also liked to play 42 and go dancing. His hobby was picking up aluminum cans; his friends jokingly claim he spent more on gas to stop and pick the cans up. Preceding Tommy in death were his father, mother, and brother, Earl David Smith. Survivors include one son, Thomas Smith, Jr. and wife Paula of Houston; two daughters, Kimberly Burrough and husband Don of Sherman; and Betsy Lockhart and husband Michael of Groesbeck; three grandchildren, Dalton Burrough of Sherman; Michaela Burrough of Sherman; and Josh Lockhart of Groesbeck. He is also survived by his loving companion of fifteen years, Linda Bassett of Thornton.