Steve “Tank” Lee Smith, age 63, of rural Lovilia, died Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016 at the Monroe County Hospital emergency room. Steve was born in Albia, Iowa to Elwood Oliver and Josie (Godfrey) Smith on January 30, 1953.
Tank married Vickie Burk on November 5, 1977 at the Knoxville Open Bible Church. Their marriage was blessed with two children, Jason and Melissa.
He worked as a school bus driver. His interests included hunting, fishing, animals, trucks, and collecting many types of things.
Surviving him are his wife, Vickie; son, Jason (Chelsea) Smith; daughter, Melissa (Archie) Little; six grandchildren: Kevin Little, Rebecca Little, Hannah Smith, Ryan Little, Titus Smith, and Corban Smith, all of rural Lovilia.
Also he has a sister, Ida Mae Hidlebaugh of Redfield, Iowa and a brother, Michael “Spook” Smith of Lovilia.
Preceding him in death were his parents, and one brother, Oliver Smith.
A Celebration of Life Potluck will be held on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at the Lovilia Community Building from 4-8 p.m. Memorials may be directed to the family. Online condolences may be left for the family at sinnottfuneralhome.com. May he rest in peace.
St Peter’s Picnic Results
The parish was grateful to all the people who joined us for the dinner. The home cooked meal was served to 230 guests.
Following the meal was an auction and ended with having a small child draw out raffle ticket winners. Winners of the raffle were $500 Marc Wynn of Lovilia, $200 Daniel Beary of Lovilia, $100 Mike Kearney of Newton, Iowa; $100 Sharon O’Donnell of Curlew, Iowa (who donated the winnings back to the parish); $50 Dionne Tyrell, mother of Angie Welsh of Lovilia; and $50 Steve Reed, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Congrats to all!
Old Hardware Building on Main Street Collapses
Most recently this building across from city hall was the recording studio/music lesson building of John Bain. John, still the owner, moved his music business to the Lovilia school building. Before this it was the DeLong screen printing business which was a branch of the Grinnell business and it closed down.
Most people remember it as a hardware store: purchased in 1960 by Slofkoskys (Mike & Velma), and last sold as a hardware store in 1973 to Charles Godfrey’s.
Wed. Oct.5, 2016 the roof suddenly collapsed and the weight pushed down the north wall of the building to the street below. Fortunately, no one was nearby or injured. The motion, noise, etc. set off the Bussey Bank burglar alarms across the street. Lathrop construction is cleaning up the site after just recently doing the same to the old drug store.
Only one two story building remains in the business district, the Soul Barn, which years ago was Miner’s Hardware. The times they are a changing and so is Lovilia’s main street.