Obituary of Paul Gregory Smith

Funeral services for Paul Gregory Smith will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, September 16, 2023, in The Chapel at Griffin~Hillcrest, Ardmore, Okla. Interment to follow in Hillcrest Memorial Park, Ardmore, Okla. Paul Gregory Smith was born on January 5, 1953, in Ardmore, OK to Charles & Alice Joyce Smith, and moved to Oklahoma City at the age of 10. He lived in a cottage at the Baptist Children’s Home where his parents worked as house parents and his father kept the commissary supplied. After graduating high school he attended community college and then moved to Long Beach to be near his older brother. While there, he married Barbara Kietzman and then moved back to Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma Baptist University where he was ordained, intending to work in ministry. After realizing God had other plans, he switched majors & schools to get his BS in Finance at Oklahoma City University as well as his MBA several years later. Working full-time to pay for school contributed to divorce, but that marriage produced a beautiful daughter, Marisa. Paul & Linda met on a blind date, with Paul proposing 6 weeks later. They would have celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this September. Finally tired of the roller coaster that was the OK economy, they moved to San Diego in 1989/90 & quickly settled in Encinitas. Their son, Colin, was born shortly afterwards. Paul continued to work in Finance and Accounting with several companies, the last being Paxmed where he was able to work part-time in order to spend more time with Colin. Family was extremely important to Paul, who would fly back to OK to watch Marisa in some of her school activities, coach Colin’s baseball teams or help as Assistant Scout Master. His hobbies included sailing, finding the waters of San Diego more of a challenge than Lake Hefner in OKC. He always enjoyed watching Formula 1 racing, especially when Colin was old enough to watch with him. He & Colin built a Factory Five Cobra replica from scratch, which he billed to Linda as the ideal father/son project. It took 5 years to complete, but Colin continues to drive whenever he gets the chance. Despite significant health challenges, including the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Dementia at the age of 62, Paul maintained his wry sense of humor, optimism, and firm belief that God was guiding every step. From a very young age he sang in the choir of every church he attended, starting as a boy soprano and ending as a bass. He was able to travel internationally with several choir tours to Eastern Europe/Russia and Scotland. Paul’s survivors include his wife Linda, daughter Marisa Sheltman (Matthew) with grandkids Aidan & Hadlea of Edmond, OK, son Colin (Ashlee) of Austin, TX, and brother Charles (Maita) of Siloam Springs, AR. He will be very missed here on earth, but we are certain he’s joined the eternal choir in Heaven, singing God’s glory.