Darrell G. Smith's Obituary
Services to celebrate the Life of Darrell Gene Smith, 84, will be 11:00am, Saturday, July 11, 2015 at Zion Lutheran Church. Burial will be in the Clinton Lawn Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be his grandchildren. Visitation will be from 9:00am until the 10:30am A Rose Croix service at the church. The Clinton Chapel Snell-Zornig Funeral Homes & Crematory is assisting the family. Darrell died peacefully at the Alverno on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.
Darrell was born on August 26, 1930 in Clinton, Iowa, the son of Harry and Cora (Schroeder) Smith. He graduated from Clinton High School in 1948. He immediately was hired to work at DuPont. Then on June 4, 1950 Darrell married his high school sweetheart Theo Adler. Darrell and Theo had three daughters. As Darrell continued working at DuPont he went from Electrical Maintenance, to Computer Programming, then Electrical Supervisor and finally Supervisor of Grounds Keeping. He retired in 1988 with 40 years of service at DuPont.
Through the years, Darrell attended Clinton Community College graduated in 1977 and then going on to Upper Iowa through US Mail correspondence. He graduated in 1980 with a Political Science degree.
Darrell had a love for politics. He was elected in 1956 as a 4th Ward Councilman. He held a council position of various wards for 50 years including one term as Mayor. Memorable important projects while serving the City of Clinton include, planning in 1965 and building the dike in 1970, building the new city hall in 1969, purchasing land to build the new Post Office in 1971, building the Chancy Fire Station, the Highway 30 project in 1995, the Millcreek Parkway in October 2001, bringing HyVee to Clinton in 1996, and the development of the railpark on the west side of Clinton.
Darrell served on a plethora of boards over the years. He served on the Skyline Board as a director and President for a total of 12 years. He belonged to the Clinton Baseball Club (Lumberkings) from 1992-2006. Kiwanis Club was a part of his life for 25 years (1988-2013), organizing it’s Make a Difference Reading Project. He also served on the Clinton Public Library’s board of trustees from 3 ½ years. He was a member of Zion Lutheran Church and a member of Western Star Lodge 100, and Clinton Scottish Rite Bodies.
After retiring from EI DuPont Darrell and Theo spent a few winters in Arizona. Then Darrell helped Theo with the Children’s Discovery Center. Theo and Darrell as volunteers got the center up and running at its present location at 3323 8th Avenue South until 2010. When Darrell had free time he loved being with his grandchildren, playing golf, and watching baseball (Lumberkings & Cubs). He was a serious fan of the “Andy Griffith Show.”
Darrell is survived by his wife: Theo of Clinton; three daughters: Pam (Ralph) Zebell of Monona, Wisconsin, Marcia (Dave) Hartman of Gold Canyon, Arizona, and Pat (Doug) Collins of Dubuque, Iowa; seven grandchildren: Jason (Cyndi) Wilkins, Justin (Brooke) Wilkins, Tricia (Steve) DeLaCruz, Chad (Kari) Zebell, Ryan (Sara) Zebell, Dr. Marissa (Ryan) Michel, and Aaron (Kylie) Collins; six great-grandchildren, and one brother: Dr. Charles (Rae) Smith of Spring, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant brother: Billy in 1926.
Memorials can be made to the Children’s Discovery Center or Zion Lutheran Church.
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