{"id":2154,"date":"2018-09-17T19:49:59","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T02:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/welcometable\/?p=2154"},"modified":"2018-09-17T19:53:14","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T02:53:14","slug":"funeral-for-thales-haskell-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/welcometable\/2018\/09\/funeral-for-thales-haskell-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Funeral for Thales Haskell Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
My 12th birthday party. Stephanie Smith is at the far left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I remember realizing that Stephanie Smith was the picture of COOL and BEAUTIFUL around sixth grade.\u00a0 Her sisters were, too.\u00a0 Her older sister, Sandy, did makeovers for all of us just-starting-puberty girls and showed me how to style my hair in a way I still use fifty years later.\u00a0 (Note the photo of me in July 2018 with my hair done exactly as Sandy taught me when I was a teenager.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My earliest memory of the Smiths was the day in fourth grade when Stephanie was absent and we learned that she and her family had gone to the Salt Lake Temple to be sealed.\u00a0 That seemed a remarkable thing to me at the time, and hinted at realities I would later understand in deeply personal ways\u2013realities of faith and second chances and loving families.<\/p>\n

The Smiths had been inactive Mormons<\/a> for much of their Provo time until then.\u00a0 In fact, the obituary<\/a> reveals that Thales and Charone Smith eloped.\u00a0 As I recall from a long-ago testimony meeting, Dr. Thales simpy saw too many miracles to sustain unbelief.\u00a0 He saw too many babies recover after priesthood blessings.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what the process of regaining faith was (I was only nine years old when the Smiths went to the temple), but I knew that something had changed, and I saw the fruits for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

A few years after that sealing day, Dr. Smith became Bishop Smith of the Oak Hills Second Ward.\u00a0 He was gentle, compassionate, humble, always kind\u2013the sort of bishop a teenaged girl needs.\u00a0 Meanwhile, his wife had a well-earned reputation of being a super-fun YW leader (back then we were Merry Hands) who would sometimes bring full-sized candy bars to our classes.<\/p>\n

In my childhood, I was simply in awe of the Smiths\u2013their white house like something from\u00a0Gone With the Wind<\/em> on 900 East in Provo, their perfect features, their social skills (mine were terriby lacking), their smiles.\u00a0 The oldest son, Thales Jr., played the mandolin and was as handsome as his father.\u00a0 The next son, Steven, could ride his bike from Provo to Salt Lake City and gave talks like someone you knew would become a famous talk-giver eventually.\u00a0 (He actually became a counselor at BYU.\u00a0 Several of my stsudents worked with him and reported to me that he was the best counselor they had had,\u00a0 full of concern and compassion.) I remember when Lisa, Steph\u2019s younger sister, got engaged\u2013and then lost her fiance in a car accident.\u00a0 She spoke today at the funeral, now married for many years, mother, grandmother, and a nurse who developed a deep appreciation for her father\u2019s rare medical abilities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Smith cares for an infant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Steven talked about his father\u2019s hands\u2013hands that could give a bishop\u2019s blessing in one hospital room and then immediately tend to an infant in the NICU; purposeful, trained hands\u2013a musician\u2019s long-fingered hands.\u00a0 Stephanie told about taking her father to the ER on his last day of life and hearing the final words he would speak in mortality: \u201cIsn\u2019t this a beautiful time of day!\u201d\u00a0 Thales Jr., a former stake president, talked about getting medical advice from his dad for the son of a stake counselor.\u00a0 The advice proved to be life-saving when local doctors were stumped.<\/p>\n

As I watched the Smiths today, I was surprised by how much I remembered of our growing-up years, and how precious each member of the family was to me.<\/p>\n

I had particularly sweet memories of Dr. Thales.\u00a0 When my baby sister (nineteen years my junior) broke her arm at Provo High School, I picked her up and took her directly to Dr. Smith\u2019s office.\u00a0 The nurses there were not pleased that I had presumed to come without an appointment.\u00a0 I entered the examination room full of apology, knowing that I had interrupted Dr. Smith\u2019s lunch hour.\u00a0 He waved my concerns away and took my sister\u2019s arm in those beautiful hands, speaking softly, comforting away any worry about broken bones or disrupted schedules.\u00a0 As I recalled the incident at the funeral, I thought of Jesus:\u00a0\u201cSuffer the little children to come unto me.\u201d Surely, that was one of my dear bishop\u2019s life themes\u2013that and \u201cBe not weary in well doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a privilege to know the Smiths, to have been blessed by them, to have grown up with them!<\/p>\n

Several of us who are Stephanie\u2019s age (now sixty-three) greeted her after the funeral.\u00a0 She put her arms around us.\u00a0 We talked about our children and grandchildren.\u00a0 We rejoiced in the life of the man we honored today.\u00a0 We cried a bit, of course, and I thanked God for good reasons to shed tears.\u00a0 I was grateful that the funeral concluded with the hymn written by another Oak Hills 2 ward member, Ed Hart: \u201cOur Savior\u2019s Love\u201d:<\/p>\n

Our Savior\u2019s love
\nShines like the sun with perfect light,
\nAs from above
\nIt breaks thru clouds of strife.
\nLighting our way,
\nIt leads us back into his sight,
\nWhere we may stay
\nTo share eternal life.<\/p>\n

Such a perfect way to end the funeral of Doctor Bishop Brother Thales Haskell Smith.\u00a0 Thank you, God, for the gift of his life.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember realizing that Stephanie Smith was the picture of COOL and BEAUTIFUL around sixth grade.\u00a0 Her sisters were, too.\u00a0 Her older sister, Sandy, did makeovers for all of us just-starting-puberty girls and showed me how to style my hair in a way I still use fifty years later.\u00a0 (Note the photo of me in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1301,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[269,378,375],"class_list":["post-2154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-death-of-a-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon-funerals","tag-thales-smith"],"yoast_head":"\nFuneral for Thales Haskell Smith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I remember realizing that Stephanie Smith was the picture of COOL and BEAUTIFUL around sixth grade.\u00a0 Her sisters were, too.\u00a0 Her older sister, Sandy, did\" 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