Gary A. (Bud) Smith

Funeral services celebrating the life of Gary A. (Bud) Smith, 80, of Monroe, LA will be held at 3:00 P.M. Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at the First United Methodist Church in Monroe, LA with Rev. JoAnn Cooper and Rev. Shawn Hornsby officiating. Interment will follow the service in Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery, under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home in Monroe, LA.

Mr. Smith passed peacefully from this earth on July 14, 2017 at Ouachita Healthcare Rehabilitation and Nursing Home, which he had called home since the passing of his loving wife Sandra. Gary was born October 19, 1936 in Punkin Center, LA, to Archie and Eleanor Smith. Raised in Minden, LA, he joined the Navy after high school, attended Louisiana Tech University, then graduated from LSU with a degree in Economics. He married wife Sandra Pullig Smith in 1959, and they moved to Monroe in 1967 to raise their family.

Gary worked for IBM for over 25 years in Monroe. He loved golf, friends, colleagues - he never met a stranger. Bud made the most of each and every minute of each and every day; one rarely, if ever, saw him in a bad mood. He simply loved life! But most of all he loved family, his wife and his children. He was an extremely involved father in an era when mothers did most of the parenting. Gary was a devoted member of the First United Methodist Church in Monroe, LA, where he served on various committees and he and Sandra were longtime members of the Aldersgate Sunday School Class.

Mr. Smith is preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 56 years, Sandra Pullig Smith. He is survived by his 3 adoring children; daughter, Stephanie Smith Rivers and husband, Jay; sons, Lee Gordon Smith and wife, Catey and Stuart Hughes Smith and wife, Lori; 6 grandchildren, Kalee C. Smith, Connor W. Smith, Trevor L. Smith, Taylor A. Smith, Shelby L. Shelton, and Trenton L. Smith; 8 great grandchildren, Ryland Smith, Ella Grace Smith, Hunter Layne Smith, Jordyn Smith, Jadyn Smith, Hayden Shelton, Piper Shelton, Norah Shelton; sister, Patsy Garcin and husband, Kenneth; and numerous other loving family and friends.

Pallbearers will be Trevor Smith, Taylor Smith, Trenton Smith, Connor Smith, Joshua Shelton, and Gary Garcin.

Visitation will be from 2:00 P.M. until service time of 3:00 P.M. at the First United Methodist Church in Monroe, LA

Memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church in Monroe, LA.