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Lilburn Smith Obituary
June 20, 1937 - May 29, 2025
Ft Worth, Texas - Lilburn Ray Smith passed away early May 29, 2025 in a local hospital of complications related to Parkinson's. He was born on June 20, 1937 to Thelma Victoria (Pendleton) and Loyd Lilburn Smith at Meadow, TX. When Lilburn was four the family moved to Lubbock, where Lilburn attended school and went on to receive an engineering degree from Texas Tech.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years Carolyn DeeAnn (Johnson), daughter Stephanie Suesan Smith of Dallas, daughter Stacy Barbara "Bea" Smith of Fort Worth, sister-in-law and brother Carol Ann and Cloyce Smith of Vancouver, Washington, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He is preceded in death by his sister and brother-in-law Joyce and Dan Manning formerly of Lubock.
Most of his career was working from Dallas in designing and testing the guidance system for laser guided rockets such as the MLRS used in Afghanistan. He traveled to Western Europe, Tokyo, and Saudi Arabia. He participated or led tests on test ranges including White Sands NM, Fort Sill OK, Area 51 NV, and Quantico VA. He loved his family and had a strong faith. He served as a deacon in the Disciples of Christ denomination and at various times he taught adult Sunday School. A voracious reader, his other hobbies included fishing and amateur radio. He enjoyed learning about indigenous people of the Americas.
His memorial service will be held in mid June. In lieu of flowers his family asks that donations be sent in his memory to Ridglea Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 6720 West Elizabeth Lane, Fort Worth TX 76116.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Lilburn Smith
Sponsored by the Star-Telegram.
3 Entries
Lewis Deen
June 20, 2025
My condolences and prayers to the family. I am so sorry to hear of Lilburn´s passing. I first met Lilburn in the early 1980s, at LTV, working on MLRS, and worked with him until he retired. I loved visiting with Lilburn. We had many common interests: Lubbock, Tessa Tech, Electrical Engineering, working as a broadcast engineer at a station in Lubbock, amateur radio, living in Parker County, LTV, and MLRS. We made several business trips together to England, France, and Germany. I had great respect for Lilburn´s technical ability and knowledge. I loved reading his Facebook posts because the we so well written and interesting, and I lived through some of those stories with him. RIP Lilburn, you will be missed.
Gail Bollen
June 7, 2025
Bea, sounds like your father was an amazing man. So sorry for your loss I won't be able to attend his service. I will be out of town. God bless you and your family, and hold you in His comforting hands.
Marvin Mauldin
June 5, 2025
Our families lived across the street from each other from 1947 to 1955. A year ahead of me in school, he got me started in photography, and we worked on ham radio, early electronic flash, early tape recording, and target shooting. I considered him my best friend, and we were finally Facebook friends.
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