Robert Smith
September 7, 1944 — February 19, 2024
Robert Wayne Smith, 79, of Lake Hallie, Wisconsin, died February 19, 2024, at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Bob was born September 7, 1944, to Elvin W. and Dolly Smith in Concordia, Kansas. He attended Concordia schools and joined the Air Force in 1962 at the age of 17. He served at Sheppard AFB and Lackland AFB in Texas, Clark AFB in the Philippines, and Holloman AFB in New Mexico. While in the Air Force he was found to have an aptitude for a then new vocation, computer programming.
After the Air Force he began working as a programmer for an accounting firm in Salina, Kansas. There he met his future wife, Connie Gayle Benda, and they were married April 29, 1967. They became the parents of two children, Kary Wayne and Laura Gayle.
In pursuit of his computer career, Bob and his family moved often in the early years. From Salina, Kansas, they moved to Omaha, Nebraska, then St. Cloud, Minnesota, then Derby, Kansas, and finally to Eden Prairie, Minnesota. There he worked for 25 years for Rosemount Engineering where he rose to be the Director of Information Systems. In 2007, Bob and Connie retired to Lake Hallie, Wisconsin.
From an early age, sports were an important part of Bob’s life. He began by playing baseball in grade school, then as a teenager he took up bowling, playing on teams for many years, and golf, which he played for over 60 years. Wherever he lived he was involved in playing softball for neighborhood and company teams. He was also an avid fan of the Minnesota Twins, Vikings, and Timberwolves. He was a member of the American Legion and Trinity Lutheran Church in Eau Claire.
Bob will be greatly missed by his wife of almost 57 years, Connie, their children, Kary, and his wife, Jennifer, Menomonie, Wisconsin; and Laura Austin, and her husband, Chammie, Florissant, Missouri; and their four grandchildren: Nolan Smith, Rebekah Austin, Elijah Austin, and Molly Smith.
He is also survived by his sister, Geri Hummell and her husband, Ken, Lenexa, Kansas; brother and sisters-in-law, Leanne Pike and her husband Losson, Gerald Benda and his wife Patti, Shirley Maresch and her husband Daryl, Beverly Messerly, and Barbara Olson and her husband Mark. Bob is also survived by numerous nephews and nieces, great nephews and nieces, and other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents; his parents, Elvin and Dolly Smith; his father and mother- in-law, Wesley and Eulaine Benda; and brother-in-law, Mitch Messerly.
Memorial donations may be made to the giver’s choice of churches and organizations to help people or to Bob’s favorite park, Irvine Park, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, for a picnic table dedicated in his name.
A graveside service will be held August 3, 2024, at the Herndon Covenant Cemetery, rural Herndon, Kansas.
The Cremation Society of Wisconsin, Altoona, Wisconsin, has handled the arrangements.
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