Anfred Allen Smith, also known as “Shorty”, 97, peacefully passed away Thursday, October 27, 2022, a resident of Parkwood.
Anfred was born August 21, 1925, the youngest son of Jesse and Leah (Shepard) Smith, in Springvale Township in the southwest corner of Pratt Co. He was the last surviving cousin of the Smith and Shepard families.
A life-long resident of Pratt Co., as a young boy he attended school at Wellsford and Cullison. He graduated from Cullison High School in 1943 with a fellow classmate, Vivian Adams, who he would marry.
Anfred enlisted in the US Navy on Nov 1944, and attended the US Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois. Wearing his Navy uniform he married Vivian Adams in Pratt, KS, on Feb 25, 1945. He was assigned to the USS McCaffrey DD860, a newly commissioned destroyer. He and Vivian attended the commissioning ceremony July 1945, at Terminal Island, Los Angeles, CA. Anfred served as an ammunition supply shipman aboard the McCaffery as it preformed military maneuvers in preparation for its deployment to China.
After his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Anfred returned to the southwest area of Pratt Co. where he engaged in farming and raising livestock where the fourth generation of Smiths continue to farm. He and his wife, Vivian, had three children.
In 1979 Anfred participated in the American Agriculture Tractorcade driving his Case tractor to Washington, DC, in February of that year to protest farm prices. Accompanied by his wife and brother, Lawrence, he was one of hundreds of tractors participating in the tractorcade.
Anfred attended the Wellsford Methodist Church and later joined the Pratt Free Methodist Church in Pratt. After his retirement in 1991 he and Vivian moved to Pratt where he was involved with church activities and the Gideons, an organization that places bibles in local hotels and distributed bibles to school children. He was involved with missionary work and made trips to Honduras and an Arizona Indian school to help with building and maintenance projects. He enjoyed his grandchildren and gave several of them their first driving lesson in his pickup truck, taking them driving through the pasture.
Survivors include: a daughter, Janice (Don) Urban, Wichita, and children, Jess (Megan) of Marysville, KS and Leslie (Adam) Rathert of Nortonville, KS; a son, Morris (Kay) Smith, Haviland, and children, Teresa (Don) Richhart of Moline, IL, Tammie (Luke) Hoeme of Preston, Kristi (Justin) Gatz of Preston, and Allen (Katie) Smith of Haviland; granddaughters, Lori (Roger) Rankin of Wichita and Becky Moore of Moore, OK, daughters of a deceased daughter, Gloria Jean (Richard) Petersen; 8 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife Vivian, three brothers, Lloyd, Marvin and Lawrence; a daughter, Gloria Jean Petersen; and son in-law, Richard Petersen.
Visitation will be held on Friday, November 4, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. with family receiving friends from 6-8 at Larrison Mortuary, 300 Country Club Road, Pratt. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. at Larrison Mortuary in Pratt on Saturday, November 5, 2022 with burial following at Sunset Cemetery, Cullison. Memorials may be made to the Gideon International or Cullison Sunset Cemetery. Online condolences may be left at www.larrisonmortuary.com.
