Obituary for Rev. Ernest Smith at Gass Haney Funeral Home (2024)

Rev. Ernest G. Smith, 92, of Columbus, Nebraska, died Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at the Good Samaritan Society - Grand Island Village, Grand Island, Nebraska, moving into his heavenly home to be with the Lord and his beloved wife, Katherine, and their various pets.

The funeral service will be held on Monday, April 11 at 10:30 AM, at Peace Lutheran Church in Columbus with Rev. Cory Burma officiating. Interment will be in the Omaha National Cemetery, Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday at 10:00 AM. Visitation will be on Sunday from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM at Gass Haney Funeral Home and continue on Monday from 9:30 AM until service time at the church. Military honors will be given by The American Legion Hartman Post 84 Honor Guard immediately after the church service on Monday. Memorials may be directed to Peace Lutheran Missionary Program, Mission Aviation Fellowship - PO Box 47, Nampa, ID, 83653, or donor's choice.

Ernest was a city boy, born June 3, 1929, in Queens, New York, to his mother, Mother Lillian Margaret (Craig), and father, William Charles (“Charlie”) Smith. The Great Depression began later that year, which influenced him and his whole generation.

Ernest went to elementary school in Brooklyn and was confirmed there in 1943 at Lutheran Church of Our Savior. He attended high school at the Lutheran Preparatory School as a boarding student in Bronxville, New York. Here he played baseball, sang in choir, and was the sports editor in the high school newspaper. In 1945, Ernest’s family moved to Ellenville, New York, for his father's job at Ulster Knife company.

Ernest felt a call to the ministry and entered Concordia Seminary St. Louis, MO in 1949 to begin his training as a pastor. The next year, he first met Katherine Williams at a group date, but she was not his date. He graduated in 1954 and married Katherine that September in Albuquerque, NM. His first parish was Christ Lutheran in O'Neill, NE and he had duties at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Atkinson, NE too. Their daughter, Stephanie, was born in O’Neill in 1955. While in Nebraska, he bought a Taylor Craft airplane and learned to fly.

In 1956 he was compelled to join the US Army. He first served at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, where their second daughter, Nancy, was born. Then, he served in the 1st Cavalry Division in Korea, where he served as a chaplain near the 38th parallel. He ended his military career serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Kentucky.

In 1959, he received a call to serve as associate minister of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Maryland, and eventually became the senior pastor there. Their two sons, Nathan and Jonathan, were born in Baltimore. Ernest was commissioned as a missionary to Papua New Guinea in 1966, moving the entire family overseas for a term of five years. While there, he learned the Enga language and taught literacy to the indigenous people in the Western Highlands (pre-independence). During a second five-year term, he taught using the local language at Timothy Seminary in Birip. One of his loves was always music and he joined a trio called the Highland Trio with other missionary folks. They sang American folk songs.

In 1976, the family returned to the United States, and Ernest received a call to Peace Lutheran Church in Columbus, Nebraska, where he served full-time until 1991. There, he sang in the church's barbershop quartet, "The Uncalled Four." After retiring from Peace, he traveled for Pathway Lutheran Ministries to help Lutheran churches around the US plan new ministries and expansion of their mission. Rev. Smith served the American Legion Hartman Post 84 as Post Chaplain for several years.

After his fourth and final retirement, he and Katherine traveled the country in RVs and visited at least 9 other countries. Throughout his life, he rode motorcycles, played golf and softball, and enjoyed family times and celebrations. He wrote a few songs and had music composed to set his lyrics to music. Known for his humor and his sermons, he also used his writing skills to put together some pamphlets he called ”Just Thinking” with musings about life, death, and everything in between. Keeping up with technology, he even created a DVD about his life.

Ernest is survived by:
Daughter - Stephanie J. (Richard) Maxson of Colorado Springs, CO
Daughter - Nancy M. (Brian) Lindholm of St. Charles, IL
Son - Nathan E. (Lisa) Smith of Overland Park, KS
Son - Jonathan M. (Melanie) Smith of Doniphan, NE
Eight grandchildren
Sister - Mildred (Smith) Heinze of Lombard, IL (who is celebrating her 90th birthday on May 18)

Ernest is preceded in death by:
Parents - William Charles and Lillian Margaret (Craig) Smith
Wife - Katherine Smith