Richard Lee Smith

Richard Lee Smith, 75, of Malden died at 11:56 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011, at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Born Feb. 13, 1935, in Princeton to William Lester and Hazel (Staples) Smith, he married Virginia Lee Mitchell Dec. 27, 1952, in Malden. She survives. Also surviving are four sons, Ronald (Kathy) Smith of Princeton, Michael (Kathy) Smith of Wyanet, Ricky (Jane) Smith of Davenport, Iowa, and Scott Smith of Malden; two daughters, Connie (Dan) Mauser of Malden and Nancy Strouss of Wyanet; 15 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Anita (Manuael) Reed of Wyanet and Patricia (Darrold) Mark of Suffolk, Va.; and one brother, Randall (Laura) Smith of Stafford, Va. He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, JoAnn Dever; and an infant granddaughter. He was a farmer and had worked for Operating Engineers Local 649 in road construction for 40 years. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Malden and was a board member for Malden Grade School for eight years. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Grant-Johnson Funeral Home, Princeton, with the Rev. Brian Moore officiating. Burial will be in Elm Lawn Memorial Park, Princeton. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Memorials may be directed to the American Diabetes Association. Pallbearers: Ryan Smith, Zachary Smith, Bradley Strouss, Christopher Smith, Justin Smith, Arthur Burden, Jeffrey Reed and Kurt Etzenbach. Honorary pallbearer: Mitchell Smith.