Dick Smith – A Warrior Who Finished Well

Written by Fred Nelson

From my earliest remembrance, Dick Smith was a successful and well to do business man in Billings who sold life insurance, mentored me and several others in the things of Christ, and was the best one on one evangelist I ever met. If you had coffee with Dick at a cafe, you knew that he was going to share the Gospel with someone and do it in a kind and relaxed manner that caught every one off guard.

One day I watched him engage a waitress at the Dude Rancher. She was pouring coffee in our mugs when he invited her to sit down. Being on the job, she protested, but was finally convince and sat down between Dick and me. He asked her several probing questions with great kindness and several minutes later she lowered her tear filled eyes and prayed to receive Jesus.

With the help of his duck hunting pal, Gerry Franz, Dick oversaw Young Life for many years. His passion for sharing the Gospel was contagious and never flagged even when his own life circumstances became difficult.

In 1991 the Triple A rated insurance company he had represented for over 20 years went bankrupt over night. He lost his large retirement account with the company, his renewals, and some of his client base. He went from being quite wealthy to flat broke overnight. I never heard him complain about this misfortune. He just kept serving his clients and sharing Jesus whenever he could.

In October of 1992 I flew to Portland with Dick and several of the guys in my Band of Brothers to serve Billy Graham and Doug Coe with a ministry effort they called Oregon Vision. We enjoyed three productive days in Oregon speaking to business men who had attended Billy’s recent Crusade in Portland about the long term benefits of Covenant Groups. I had to fly out before Dick and gave him a hug at a large breakfast meeting before catching my flight. As I was leaving the banquet room, I glanced back and noticed Dick with the hand of one guy in one of his as he was drawing another man’s hand toward the other’s. Dick, as usual, was “giving his friends away” --- in Jesus. Little did I know that this would be the last time I would see my dear friend and teacher before he went Heaven.

The next morning Dick arrived at the front door of his office building in Billings about 7:30 AM. A homeless man he knew was rummaging through a garbage can and Dick invited him up to his office. Smith gave him a coffee and a pastry and engaged the man in conversation about Jesus. At the close of the conversation, Dick reached into his wallet and gave him his last few bills.

A couple of hours later, Dick’s sweet wife, Sharongae, called to tell him that she had just opened a written request from a missionary friend who had need of some money to share the Good News with gypsy kids in eastern Europe. Dick asked her how much they had left in savings. She replied that they had about $500 remaining. He simply said, “Send it all to our friend.”

One hour later, I am told, a company underwriter in New York, contacted Dick for some assistance on a technical problem he and another agent were having. Dick skillfully handled the young man’s questions and then said:

“Mike, I am 65 years old, and I can tell you with confidence that the only two things in this life that matter are loving and serving Jesus Christ.” Then there was complete silence on the line.

We found out weeks later that the young underwriter had clearly heard Dick’s statement about Jesus and was puzzled at the abrupt end to the conversation. After several minutes of trying to get Dick to respond, he concluded that the line must have gone dead and ended the call.

Several weeks later, Mike was reading the company’s quarterly journal and read, to his shock and sadness, that Dick Smith had died that day from an aneurism that burst in his aorta. He called Dick’s office and was able to confirm that my dear friend’s last words on earth were those uttered to this company underwriter:

“Mike, I am 65 years old, and I can tell you with confidence that the only two things in this life that matter are loving and serving Jesus Christ.”

Dick Smith was one of those warriors who will bring the others home --- he finished well. May we do the same!