Francis J. Smith
Date of Passing:
Smith, Francis J. (79) of Riverside, Rhode Island, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 28, 2022 surrounded by family and friends. He was the son of the late Rose (Tehan) and James E. Smith of Providence, brother of the late James A. Smith, and loving husband of the late Jane Marie Smith (Baxter).
Francis graduated from Hope High School and attended Johnson and Wales College. He was the Co-captain of the Hope High School Basketball team and helped lead them to win the Division 1 Championship in 1960.
Francis was a U.S. Army Veteran and served in the Vietnam War. He was employed by the former New England Telephone Company for 30 years. He was a sports enthusiast, a film buff and was an avid tennis player.
He is survived by 3 children Heather Smith Souza and her husband Jamie Souza, James F. Smith and his wife Madhuur Ahuja, and Ryan Smith and his wife Karla Beard-Smith. He is loved by 5 grandchildren Kaleb, Zachary, Meher, Serenity-Rayne, and Temperance-Rose. He also leaves behind his close friend and companion Marcie Marine.
His Funeral Service with Military Honors will be held at the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery, South County Trail, Exeter on June 10, 2022 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to PAWS New England at http://www.pawsnewengland.com
To the Smith Family,
My sincere condolences on the passing of Frank. We were friends since high school at Hope High. we were basketball teammates for a couple of years at Hope and continued to play on local amateur teams for several years after high school and college. As an aside, we used to say, “Frank never saw a shot he didn’t like”. And for the most part, he made many of them. We had some great times. A friend, always.
My Condolences to Heather, Jim and Ryan. I was very sorry to hear of Frank’s passing and sorry I missed his service. He was a good friend and coworker at Verizon for many years. ??❤️
So sorry to hear of Frank’s passing. Our deepest sympathy to Heather, Jimmy and Ryan and families. Sincerely, Ray and June Vincent
To the Smith children, so sorry to hear about your father. We were neighbors for many years. RIP Frank
To the entire Smith Family,
I was saddened by the death of a long time friend. He loved his family and I know he enjoyed all the times they spent together. They will have lots of memories to look back on and maybe the memories will help with their grief. Frank and I ran into each other frequently at Almacs when diet coke was on sale. We always laughed about knowing we would see each other if diet coke was on sale. He was also a great lover of dogs. When we met back in the 70’s and became neighbors he had 2 yellow labs. He loved his family but the dogs were next in line for his affection. I know he will always be in the hearts of his family and friends. RIP