Richard F. Smith

Richard Floyd Smith was on his last orbit on this earth when he passed away on February 25th, 2025.

Richard was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, on January 30, 1945, the son of Jack Edmund and Margaret Ann Smith. His father Jack was somewhere fighting in The Battle of the Bulge in Belgium when he was born. There were two wonderful sisters, Judith Ann Pickens and Jackie Lou Wren, in that household at 2327 Eoff Street. At an early age, Richard loved to take things apart and put them back together. His mother once found him trying to take apart the electric fuse box. The house had four rooms with only cold water and no proper bathroom. Rent was a staggering twelve dollars a month. All three children slept in one room, the sisters in the big bed and Richard in the small one. In 1954 they moved nearer to his grandmother in the east part of Wheeling.

During his high school years, he worked numerous jobs from working in a factory on special weekends to delivering Easter lilies to a madam in the red-light district.

After graduation from high school in 1962, Richard attended West Liberty University where he graduated in secondary education with a major in English, speech, and theatre. His knowledge of the theatre blossomed under the tutelage of Stanley Harrison. He began to teach in the Newcomerstown, Ohio school system where he taught English and speech and theatre for two years. He then was hired to teach in the Department of Defense Overseas School system and spent thirty-one years teaching in Okinawa and Germany. He received his master’s degree from Ohio University in 1978, majoring in Organizational Communications. He began pursuing a PhD program in 1986 with New York University in Educational Theatre in London, England, but health concerns kept him from completing the program. Richard loved sharing his knowledge of theatre and theatre productions with close to 100 productions and four self-written plays. He was one of five theatre teachers who founded the International Schools Theatre Association ISTA in 1981 and was a board member for many years. Presently, the association’s membership has over 200 schools throughout the world. Many of his students kept up with him including Julianne Moore, best actress in the Oscars for her role in Still Alice.

Everyone has a passion and purpose to live by. Throughout his life, Richard wanted to convey what he knew about theatre and his shows were always Broadway-quality productions. He used to say to his students, “I don’t do Minnie-on-the farm productions and neither do all of you.” His philosophy was, “Practice like you’ve never won; Perform like you’ve never lost”. Sometimes a shoe would be thrown to the stage if an actor was not looking or smiling where he or she should be.

In 1972, after having lived for one month on the island of Okinawa, Richard met his best buddy, and they shared over 45 years of companionship. Together they travelled by train to cities such as Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague, and Barcelona. When he was stationed in the Asia, he experienced the sites of Taiwan, Bangkok, and Hong Kong. Some of his special experiences were having a traditional Japanese hot bath, “Onsen”, visiting Kathmandu, Nepal and its majestic mountains, The Taj Mahal in India, and Kabul, Afghanistan before the Russian invasion. Europe brought to him more memories such as the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Jerusalem, Israel during Passover, to what was called then Leningrad, Russia. With theatre as his love, he saw many productions in London.

In 2001, Richard and Lynn retired to Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Travels to New York City were often since the Amtrak train passed very near their home. They were fortunate to own a time share at The Manhattan Club just two blocks south of Central Park and another in Mexico. On June 2, 2014, Richard and Lynn were married thirteen days after the courts in Pennsylvania decided that everyone should be equal.

Retirement gave him time to pursue his hobby of genealogy. His mother’s side goes back to Edward Rawson, the first secretary to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600’s, and his father’s side, Andrew Smith, came from Germany in 1752.

Richard was preceded in death by his spouse Lynn Barnes, his parents Jack and Margaret Smith, his grandparents, his uncles and aunts, and many loving pets. He is survived by his two sisters, Judy Pickens and Jackie Wren, nephews and nieces, and great nephews and nieces and many, many friends from his DoDDS teaching years overseas.

Richard always kept his membership with the Aldersgate Methodist Church since early childhood. He is also a member of the Federal Education, Kappa Delta Phi, an international honor society in education, Alpha Psi Omega, an honor college fraternity in theatre. There are no memorial services planned. His cremated remains will be buried at Parkview Memorial Gardens in Wheeling, West Virginia. Theatre was his life, and life is not measured in the breaths we take, but in moments that take our breath away. It is time for him to exit stage right.

 “When I go, don’t learn to live without me, just learn to live

 With my love in a different way. And if you need to see me,

 Close your eyes or look in your shadow when the sun shines.

 I’m there. Sit with me in the quiet and you will know that I

 Did not leave. There is no leaving when a soul is blended

 With another. When I go, don’t learn to live without me.

 Just learn to look for me in the moments. I will be there.”

 Donna Ashworth

This obituary was lovingly written by Richard’s family who love him and will miss him dearly.

Cremation arrangements by Gravenor Sipler Funeral & Cremation Centre, Inc. in Ephrata.