Goodbye Grandpa Smart

G. Arthur Smart – 9/12/1920 – 10/21/2012

Grandpa Smart, aka Uncle Arthur, passed last week. He lived to be 92 years old, which is as much as any of us could hope for. Even though it’s sad when someone we love leaves us, there were lots of great memories along the way. Below are the words I shared at his funeral service.

I want to take this opportunity to share some of my favorite memories of Grandpa Smart.

As many of you know, grandpa loved bikes. He ran uncle Arthur’s bike shop from as far back as I can remember. I never wanted for a bike and didn’t even buy one for myself until I was 28 (with grandpa’s help of course). One of my earliest memories of grandpa is of him teaching me how to ride a bike. I was five years old and had just moved from California and grandpa was very insistent that I could learn how to ride a bike. I assumed that I could get a bike with training wheels but I quickly learned that grandpa did not believe in training wheels. I picked a bike out from the bike shop and he put me in a jacket with a big hood that he could hold onto and he helped me learn how to balance and ran around Llewellyn street holding on to my hood until I got the hang of it. An hour or so later I could ride a bike and it’s the same way I plan to teach my own daughter to ride a bike the same way in a couple years. And when I do there won’t be any training wheels involved.

One of the things I noticed while going through pictures for his slideshow (and it didn’t surprise us) was that grandpa was often found near the food. Grandpa taught me to always save room for dessert and that was okay to have more than one. I can still remember after numerous Thanksgiving dinners when everyone else was completely stuffed, grandpa would be sure to try some apple pie, some ice cream, some chocolate cream pie, and usually a couple other desserts.

Another thing I will remember about grandpa is his sense of humor. I’m sure everyone here has heard an uncle Arthur joke or two. Growing up, I heard my fair share and even told a few myself. I don’t have any specific examples, but you definitely know one when you hear it. Even yesterday during some lighter moments with my dad, we realized that we were making a couple uncle Arthur jokes. The best way to know that you heard an uncle Arthur joke was if Nana Smart was around because they were usually followed with “Oh Arthur!”.

You might not know that grandpa didn’t exactly love movies. Or at least I should say he didn’t really love new movies. That makes this memory even more special. I will never forget the time grandpa took my sister and I to a movie we (mostly Lindsey) wanted to see, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We were younger (much younger) and I would probably have no memory of if not for the fact that nana and grandpa took us. Somehow, grandpa made it through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just because we wanted to see it. And if it doesn’t make you smile to think about grandpa watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’m not sure what could.

I admired grandpa for numerous reasons. He was a very giving person with all of his charity work. He was always available for a bike ride or to play catch when I was younger. He could always make you smile with a joke.  Despite being retired he decided he would learn to use a computer, something few people his age would even consider. And I could go on… But the thing I admired most about grandpa was that he (and Nanna Smart) made 69 years of marriage look so effortless and so enjoyable. I still remember them both at my wedding six years ago. They were the last couple on the dance floor because they had been married the longest of anyone at the wedding (63 years at that time). Grandpa gave nanna a big kiss on the dance floor and I thought, now that’s what I want. 

Grandpa, we love you and you will be missed.