Bob Smith overcame some big challenges in his life: poverty as a child, hard-tackling linemen as a teenager, armed kidnappers in his late 30s and a family health crisis in his early 70s.
But it was a tiny germ that finally felled him.
Mr. Smith died Sept. 23 at age 75 following a brief but devastating battle with COVID-19.
He was a retired Commerce Bank president and an avid golfer.
Mr. Smith grew up in Rogers, Ark., and still holds the record he set in 1963 at Rogers High School for career yards gained by a running back.
“He, his brother and his son all won a state championship in basketball,” said his wife of 54 years, Nancy. “He went on to Arkansas State University on a football scholarship and majored in business.”
He and Nancy met in college.
“I asked him to a July 4 event, and in August we went home and told our parents we were getting married,” she said.
They were married in 1966 and welcomed a son (Jason Smith of Colorado) in 1972 and a daughter (Ashleigh Nagel of Festus) in 1976.
Mr. Smith went to work for a finance company in Kansas City.
“He always said he had a lot of fun being a banker before all the regulations,” Nancy said. “He enjoyed being able to help people.”
Mr. Smith eventually went to work for Commerce Bank as a repo man, but when the company began buying small banks in 1970, Mr. Smith took a job as loan officer at a bank in Bonne Terre. He was transferred to a bank in Fenton, then to one in Willard, where he was promoted.
“Bob was named the youngest bank president in (Commerce) history,” Nancy said.
The Smith family moved to the Twin City area in 1979 and have been here ever since.
The family’s lives took a sharp turn in 1983, when they were taken hostage at gunpoint in their Crystal City home.
“It was the Sunday night after Thanksgiving,” Nancy recalled. “A lady came to the door and asked for directions.”
The robbers handcuffed Mr. Smith and forced the family to the basement, where they were held overnight. In the morning, half the group stayed there while others took Mr. Smith to the bank.
“They made him greet each (employee) as they came in,” Nancy said. “They made them all lie down on the floor and made him get the money”
The group made off with $80,000 and were later apprehended. The only injuries in the case were to Mr. Smith’s wrists from the cuffs.
“As a 10-year-old, it was just so frightening,” Jason said. “Dad was a big dude, and they just manhandled him. Their plan was shock and awe, to put fear in us so we would comply with everything. He thought they had killed us in the basement.”
Jason said the trauma left a visible, lasting effect on his father.
“In the first half of his life, my dad had curly hair,” he said. “But after that night, his hair was straight for the rest of his life.”
It took the Smiths many years to recover.
“When someone violates the security of your home, it’s just unimaginable,” Nancy said. “We felt we needed to get out of that house, so we moved to Festus.”
Jason said when he tells the story, people ask him, “How are you normal?”
“First was our faith in Christ, the other was our family,” he said. “We are so tight-knit. We loved each other and had each other’s backs and cared for each other through thick and thin.
“That was the biggest example my dad set for me – faith and dedication to his family in the midst of trauma. It helped us survive, to dream and achieve things we wanted to.”
Slowly the Smiths returned to normal.
Ashleigh said her dad taught by example how to be a good man.
“He was tough, but he was kind,” she said. “We’d pick up on the weekends and just go – to museums, to the beach, hundreds of Cardinals games. Such good memories.”
In 2001, Mr. Smith retired.
“When Bob was 56, his brother and brother-in-law both died, and he said, ‘That’s it. I’m retiring,’” Nancy said.
The Smiths’ faith was tested in July 2018 when Ashleigh suffered a heart attack and spent weeks in a medically-induced coma and then in rehab. Her family attributes her miraculous recovery to prayer and the support of the community.
Over the past few years, Mr. Smith focused on golfing, traveling with his wife and spending time with family and friends.
He was famous for always being impeccably dressed.
“He’d be out mowing the yard in a matching shirt and shorts,” Nancy said.
She said her husband likely contracted COVID-19 from riding to a golf tournament with a person who later tested positive.
“I have diabetes and heart disease and kidney disease,” she said. “We had been so careful protecting me the last eight months. I caught it from him and lived, and he had nothing, and he died.”
Mr. Smith will be remembered for his contributions to the community.
“Bob was awesome about hiring and nurturing women,” Nancy said.
Ashleigh agreed.
“He was a big supporter of women in business, a great mentor,” she said. “We could drive through Festus and Dad knew every business owner. And so many of those businesses were what they were because he had given them a helping hand.
“It’s a good feeling to know your dad left an impact on the community in that way.”
“Life Story,” posted Saturdays on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.