Kelly W. Smith

Weslaco- Kelly W. Smith, age 68, passed away in his home on January 5, 2025, surrounded by his family. He was a teacher, a husband, a father, a brother, and his parent’s only son, with whom they were well pleased. 

Kelly was born on August 27, 1956, to the late Alvin Carl Smith and Jean Frances Dokey in Lindale, Texas.

In his early years in East Texas, Kelly's grandmother's house was the backdrop for some of his fondest childhood memories, where he, along with his sister and cousins, ran amok. As a kid, he loved building model cars and fishing, and although he was a certified troublemaker, consequence often eluded him.

In 1963, the Smith Family moved down to Mercedes, Texas. As a student, Kelly’s grades left much to be desired, but in extracurriculars, he excelled. Kelly was a member of Beta Gamma Phi and Key Club, and spent six years playing percussion in the school band. By the time he graduated from Mercedes High School in 1974, Kelly held state and regional titles in Science Fair, Speech, One Act Play, and Poetry Interpretation.

Kelly’s aptitude and affinity for performance took him to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. As a stage actor, he performed in many leading roles in Mask and Wig productions, and by 1979, he had earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.

After college, Kelly was a stagehand, a master carpenter, and an electrician at the Gaslight Theater, the Opera House, the Armadillo, and venues all over Austin. He was a roadie for concerts, toured with the Ice Capades, and built movie sets.

In 1986 a nurse named Libby placed an ad in an Austin newspaper looking for a roommate. Meanwhile, Kelly found himself in need of housing. By the time the crepe myrtles bloomed at the house on Duval Street, Libby and Kelly were together and would be for the next 39 years. Kelly proposed at Carmelo’s in Austin on Valentine's Day of 1987, and the couple married in Fredericksburg, Texas, on May 7, 1988. They spent their honeymoon backpacking through the Great Smoky Mountains and sipping mint juleps in New Orleans. 

After marrying, they moved to Missouri, where Kelly worked as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service at Ozark National Scenic Riverways. There, he led tours, patrolled rivers, gave ranger talks, and was deployed to fight wildfires. He also had tours of duty in LBJ National Historical Park and Padre Island National Seashore. 

Kelly’s experiences working in Austin and with the Park Service made him a lifelong crusader for the environment and education. He was an advocate for workers’ rights and a dues-paying union member until the day he died. 

In 1991, the young couple moved their growing family back to Weslaco, Texas, where Kelly followed in his parents' footsteps by becoming an educator in Mercedes. For twenty-six years, he dedicated himself to the education of students as a theater teacher. Under Kelly’s leadership, Mercedes High School’s One Act Play became a major contender in the region, and he coached kids to victory on the very same U.I.L. teams he once competed on as a boy. With a shoe-string budget and pure determination, he pulled off full-scale stage productions, including favorites such as "Into the Woods", "Steel Magnolias", "Anna in the Tropics", and "Seussical." Kelly was devoted to his students, an outspoken advocate for the arts in schools, and changed the lives of many kids by inspiring them to explore and express their own creativity. 

After the school day ended, Kelly still found time to coach Little League and was very involved with Boy Scouts Troop 34. To earn extra money for Christmas, each winter, he spent evenings and weekends working as the Stage Manager for South Texas Dance Theater’s ‘The Nutcracker’, the Rio Grande Valley’s longest-running show.

One advantage of being a teacher was getting summers off, and Kelly spent his camping with his family, where he and Libby instilled in their children a reverence for nature and a love for state and national parks. Riding his motorcycle through winding mountain passes and up coastlines gave him the same joy as an adult that it did at 18, and a great many of his adventures were had from the back of his bike.

Like his parents before him, he had a love of language, literature, and poetry and kept no fewer than eight dictionaries in his home. He enjoyed the novels of William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, David Mamet plays, and the dry-witted short stories of Dorothy Parker. With a profound appreciation for the classics, Kelly rarely went a day without referencing one of Shakespeare's works, but he had a special affinity for local art and artists. He was an exceptional storyteller and orator, and the finest auctioneer the Smith Family Reunion ever saw. Whether teaching class or sparring with his sister, Kelly’s words spoke to his sharp mind and irreverent sense of humor. 

From the large-scale home construction projects he designed, engineered, and built himself, to the beautiful woodworkings he created for friends and family, Kelly’s artistry and ingenuity was manifest in all that he did. 

Always a romantic, Kelly believed in the power of grand gestures. When he retired, he immediately set to work building his wife a deck overlooking the garden where they could enjoy quiet hours and morning cups of coffee.

A stray dog often joined him while he worked in the backyard, and one day, he named that dog Bob and welcomed him into his home. Bob became Kelly’s constant companion, and they spent his golden years traveling the country together. They brought Libby along, too. 

Kelly is survived by his loving wife, Libby Smith; their four children, Kathleen Smith (Ezekiel Laxina), Mary Smith (Mitchell Corona), Patrick Smith, and Zachary Smith, step-mother Anna Smith; sisters Carla Shelton and Suzanne Reed (James), and Bob-the-Dog. He will be remembered as generous with his time and talents, and for being a source of help and strength to those who needed him. Perhaps above all else, he was a devoted husband, father, and son. 

Visitation services will be held at McCaleb Funeral Home in Weslaco, Texas, on January 18, 2025, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., followed by a Celebration of Life from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.