Terrence (Terry) Dale Smothermon of Humble, Texas went to be with the Lord on October 29, 2018. He was 80 years old.

Terry is survived by his lovely wife of 62 years, Shirley, and their three children – Rick, Kim (Bloedorn), and Scott. He is preceded by his father Gerald Claude Smothermon and his mother Gladys Ann Dunn. He is also survived by his three brothers, Jerry, Ned, and Tony. He leaves behind an adoring family which includes five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. More than that, he leaves behind a legacy of hundreds of close friends for whom he spent countless hours and worked tirelessly to maintain and continuously nurture and enrich their lives in any way he could.

He will always be remembered for his selfless commitment to his family, friends, neighbors, and any opportunity for charity he could plug himself into. He loved football, basketball, golf, hunting, fishing, RV’ing, and working on cars. Most of all, though, he loved the way his hobbies allowed him to connect with and engage in the lives of others.

There will be a memorial service to celebrate his life on November 17, 2018. It will be held at the Atascocita United Methodist Church at 1:00 p.m.

One of Terry’s grandsons (Matthew) was dramatically cured of a traumatic brain injury sustained while deployed in Afghanistan. This was accomplished by a relatively new treatment called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). Because the VA refuses to acknowledge HBOT as an option, veterans are forced to rely upon private donations in order to receive this life-saving treatment. Therefore, in lieu of flowers or other gifts, we are asking that you please consider donating to the “Veteran’s Recovery Program with Hyperbaric Therapy”. Memorial donations may be made to Memorial Hermann online at www.memorialhermann.org/donate, by mail to 929 Gessner, Suite 2650, Houston, TX 77024, or by phone at 713-242-4400. Please specify the name of this program and that the donation is “In Memory of Terry Smothermon”.

Terry was born in Powell, Wyoming on February 5, 1938. He grew up in nearby Thermopolis and then moved to Worland, Wyoming in 1951. That’s where, in the 8th grade, he met the ‘love of his life’, Shirley Jean Aldrich. From that point on, they were seldom apart. They were high school sweethearts and Shirley spent much of her time cheering for Terry as one of the standout athletes on the football and basketball teams. Terry was an avid sports fanatic and an outstanding athlete in many sports; however, it was his talent on the gridiron that secured a football scholarship at the University of Colorado. They started their family early and it wasn’t long before Terry realized that providing for his family and focusing on his education in Chemical Engineering was going to have to take precedence over playing football. That was a trademark of Terry’s character – a strong moral compass, a rigid fixation on always doing the right thing, and a level-headed sense of priorities, responsibility, and focusing on the things that mattered most – no if’s, and’s, or but’s and no excuses. He always put the needs of others ahead of his own. So, he shifted all his attention toward supporting his family by working as an auto mechanic at the local filling station while continuing to attend college full time.

After a brief semester at the University of Wyoming, Terry transferred to Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. He graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree in 1962 and then moved the family to Richmond, California to start his career in the refining business with what was then called Standard Oil of California. After three years with SOCAL, Terry landed a job with Standard Oil of New Jersey (now Exxon) and moved the family to Billings, Montana. There was an underlying motivation for taking this job. You see, the only thing Terry loved more than sports and cars was hunting, fishing, and camping in the Rockies. He wanted his children to learn to love and enjoy nature and the great outdoors; and, to him, there was no better setting than the Big Horn mountains. It was 1965 and it felt like, after nine long, tough years, the hard work was finally paying off. The next six years were spent raising their three young children, coaching little guy football, camping and fishing in the summer, hunting in the fall, and working on his own and all the neighbors’ cars whenever the opportunity arose.

Terry’s career with Exxon took him from Billings to Baton Rouge and then to Houston. After five years in Houston, an opportunity arose for the family to get back to Wyoming via an inter-company transfer to Carter Mining in Gillette, Wyoming. That’s when Terry’s career shifted from refining to coal mining. Exxon’s Carter Mining family proved to be one of the most close-knit, endearing experiences in Terry’s career – a time and place where many enduring friendships were formed. However, in the oil business it seems all roads always lead back to Houston and, in 1989, Terry and Shirley moved back to Houston to settle in the Atascocita area of Humble, Texas. For the next seven years, Terry commuted from there to Exxon’s Baytown refinery location where he found another close-knit family which became equally fruitful in building lasting friendships. By the time Terry retired in 1996, between his Exxon family, Sunday School class at Atascocita Methodist Church, Men’s Bible Study, Humble Area Assistance Ministries, golf buddies, and neighbors, Terry had no shortage of close friends who were able to experience first-hand his deep love for people, relationships, politics, humor, football, golf, hunting, fishing, cars, guns, dogs, and crawfish boils. Add all that up, throw in a longing to go camping again, and you’ve got your perfect next step after retirement – buy a motorhome so you can take summer trips back to the Rockies and connect with even more people in the RV community.

Terry placed so much value in each and every relationship – whether newly acquired or old friends from high school – that it was actually the underlying theme and motivation for how he spent his retirement days. He was always ready and willing to volunteer whenever someone needed help. Whether it was organizing or facilitating in RV rallies, helping to run the annual Atascocita Methodist Men’s Golf Tournament, serving on committees, loading trucks with his HAAM buddies, or just fixing a friend or neighbor’s car, it seems like Terry spent all of his time trying to add value in some way to every person he came across. As always, he knew what mattered most in life (people) and everything else got pushed aside.

And so, it goes without saying that there was probably no event more special to Terry than when his entire family gathered together every year to celebrate Christmas. His oldest son, Rick, and his wife (Diane) have three sons (Mark, Matthew, and Mason). Mark and his wife (Sarah) have three children – Caleb (6), Kinsley (3), and Kylee (8 months). They live in Tucson Arizona. Matthew and his wife (Zoe) live in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Mason and his wife (Elise) have two daughters – Hannah (4) and Norah (2). They live in Austin. Terry’s youngest son, Scott, and his wife (Laura) have two daughters (Stephanie and Samantha). Scott and Laura are in the process of moving back to Houston. Stephanie and her husband (Ethan Demary) have one daughter – Jane (2) and they live in Houston. Samantha is attending university in San Marcos. Terry’s daughter, Kim (Bloedorn), also lives in Houston. Stephanie’s brother, Dustin (currently living in Dallas) is family; so, if you add all that up, you have 5 children (including spouses), 10 grandchildren (including spouses), and 6 great-grandchildren. Add Great-Grandpa (Terry) and Great-Grandma (Shirley) and you have a room of 23 – filled with all the laughter and love a person could ever want.

Terry deeply loved the Lord with all his heart. In spite of the profoundly tough years growing up, Terry persevered in following Christ and walking the talk in every facet of his life. There is no greater testimony to Terry’s passion to exemplify and exert the very nature and character of God in as many lives as he was able to touch than to take stock of a family so richly blessed to have him as their father or so many friends so richly blessed to have him in their lives. He will be so deeply missed as we watch him take off and race down that road into the wide open, waiting arms of his Heavenly Father.