Ron Smith passed away on December 10, 2025, at the age of 78. He lived a generous life, always caring for his family, friends, neighbors and community.
Ronald Max Smith was born on June 13, 1947, in Wellington, Texas, to Lester Smith and Dorotha Crowder Smith. At that time, his older brother, John Hayden, was 12 years old. The family of four moved to Dallas because Lester wanted his two boys to go to the highly rated Highland Park school district and to attend Southern Methodist University.
Ron graduated from Highland Park High School and then attended SMU, where he earned a degree in Chemistry. Ron was hired out of college to DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware. He worked for DuPont for his entire career as a salesman and project manager.
While in Wilmington, Ron met and married his lifelong love, Judy Smith. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where their two daughters were born, Kathryn in 1974 and Karen in 1977. His career with DuPont also included a move to Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit where the family was active in Beverly Hills United Methodist Church. Later, the family was relocated to Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb close to Wilmington and Philadelphia, where they were active members of Kennett Square Presbyterian Church.
Ron’s sales work at DuPont often meant travel to many parts of the US, as well as Singapore and Japan. But he was an involved father, served as an elder at the church, and also volunteered at Good Neighbors, a non-profit that repaired houses in Kennett Square.
As a dad, he demonstrated honesty and integrity in all personal and professional matters, taught his daughters the importance of good grades, how to negotiate for themselves in business, and showed them unconditional love that instilled foundational self-confidence.
As a native Texan, living in Philadelphia Eagles country, he also raised his daughters to cheer for the Dallas Cowboys on Sundays, and to love grits. To his delight, both of his daughters would live in Texas: Karen while attending vet school at Texas A&M, and Kathryn, starting in 2009, when her first child was 3 years old, which allowed for Ron and Judy to enjoy many years of grandparent time.
He retired from DuPont at age 60, and returned to Texas for good in 2009.
Back in Dallas, Ron and Judy became involved in Fellowship Dallas Church, where Ron volunteered to serve pancake breakfast to the youth each Sunday, and attended Men's Bible Study regularly at 6 am. Through those relationships, the leaders of the church tapped him to use his business experience and come out of retirement to serve as Director of Operations at the church for several years.
After his second retirement, he stayed active in the community, volunteering with AARP to prepare taxes for local retirees at the library during tax season, volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in Collin County, and serving on the HOA Board for Waterford Parks. He was also a founding member of the Allen ISD Silver Eagles Club.
He was loving and lovable in social circles, church circles, with work friends and daughters’ friends. To talk with him was to get his undivided attention. He asked great questions and gave sage advice. He loved his three grandchildren with his calm presence and patience.
He valued relationships and stayed connected with his many cousins and relatives who live in West Texas and Oklahoma.
He is predeceased by his wife, Judy Smith; his brother John Hayden Smith; and sister-in-law, Susan Hemple Smith. He is survived by his two daughters, Kathryn Lysko of Allen, Texas, and Karen Reynolds of Asheville, North Carolina; and three grandchildren, Kelly Lysko (age 19), Max Lysko (age 15), and Owen Reynolds (age 13). He is also survived by his nieces, Laura McLeod (husband, Tom), and Pam Brannen (husband, Evan), and Pam and Evan’s son, Sam Hayden (age 17), who affectionately called him Uncle Ronnie.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, Feb 28, 2026 at Fellowship Dallas Church, 9330 North Central Expressway, Dallas, Texas.
Judy's obituary may be viewed at the following link: https://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/obituaries/judith_judy_ann_smith
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Good Neighbors Home Repair (https://www.goodneighborshomerepair.org/) or CASA of Collin County (https://casaofcollincounty.org/).