Jimmie Dean Smith, 82, known as “Smitty” to colleagues, as “Pa” to his grandkids and great grandkids, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on May 5, 2026, after a short, but hard-fought battle with cancer. Jimmie was born on January 11, 1944, to Joe H. Smith and Thelma Cooke Smith in Emory, Texas. He married Carolyn Kay Scott on June 5, 1965. Save for a brief period in Grand Prairie, Texas where his children, Toni and Dwayne, were born; Jimmie spent his life improving the farmland passed down in the Smith family. While studying accounting at ETSU, he began working in a tooling shop which turned out be his real passion.

He opened M&S Tooling in 1980 with Maxie Arnold. He started off with a manual mill, a trig book and a legal pad and was an early adopter of CAD and CNC technology as he grew the shop to include his brother, Billy, and his son, Dwayne. In everything he did, he was constantly innovating and thinking of different ways to solve problems. He instilled in all of us a strong work-ethic, pride in our work, and a great love for caring for the land and all our animals. Jimmie had a passion for fishing and bird hunting, something he shared with his friends and family. He believed strongly in our obligation to be good stewards of God's creation. He loved Jesus and served faithfully as a deacon at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church for over 50 years.

Jimmie is survived by his wife of almost 61 years, Carolyn Smith; his siblings, Jo Ann Martin (Roy Martin), Billy Smith (D’Andra Smith); his children, Toni Smith Threadgill (Dennis Threadgill); Dwayne Smith (Marie Smith); his grandchildren, Courtney (Smith) Kearby (Caleb Kearby); Caleb Smith (Me-Me Smith); Grayson Smith; Clayton Smith (Gabrielle Smith); Makayla Threadgill, and Autumn Threadgill; his great-grandchildren, Meredith Kearby, Anna Kearby, and Carson Smith, and many nieces and nephews.