Family mourns, but celebrates life of crossing guard

TAYLORSVILLE — Family members of James "Jim" W. Smith remember their loved one as a "typical family guy."

"He had a simple life," his son, Keith Smith, said Wednesday. "He was kind of a gentleman's farmer here."

But during his 77 years, Smith's commitment to service and helping others was anything but ordinary.

Whether it was his country, his church or the children who walked past his house on daily treks to and from school, Smith was a man who liked to help others.

"He liked to stay busy," Keith Smith said.

For four years, Smith was a crossing guard for Bennion Elementary and Bennion Junior High schools. Smith was seriously injured Dec. 16 when he was hit by a car during a snowstorm while on duty at the junior high near 5900 South and 2700 West.

Although the driver's vehicle was traveling the posted 20 mph speed limit, authorities say the driver apparently didn't see the crossing guard. Smith was hit and tossed 69 feet.

Smith was taken to Intermountain Medical Center, where he regained consciousness, but doctors said he would be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. On Jan. 1, the day before he was to begin his rehabilitation, he died.

Funeral services will be Thursday at the Bennion 2nd Ward, 6100 South Kamas Drive (2480 West).

The accident remained under investigation Wednesday, but Smith's family said they're not angry at the driver.

"I've talked to the individual involved in the accident. He's very remorseful," Keith Smith said. "It's been very hard on (the driver and his family). It's an accident. It's everybody's worse nightmare. We've shared tears with them. I have no ill feelings toward them."

Instead, Smith's family wants to remember a man who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, worked for Kennecott Copper for 25 years before retiring in 1993 and also had a current barber's license at the time of his death.

"He cut the meanest flat top in town," Keith Smith said.

Jim Smith was born July 12, 1931, in Bennion. He graduated from Granite High School and served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Great Lakes Mission.

He graduated from barber college during down time at Kennecott and kept an old barber's chair in his basement, giving haircuts to his friends and LDS missionaries. When he wasn't cutting hair, Smith was busy as a charter member of the Radio Emergency Action Communication Team (REACT), and for 30 years served in various positions, including president and vice president.

He was one of the first to get into the short-wave radio craze and he and his friends would help other people by contacting emergency dispatchers for them or getting roadside assistance on the way.

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