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Charles Ray Smith, lovingly known as “Ray” or “Smitty,” entered the arms of Jesus on September 5, 2025, at the age of 87. A lifelong member of the Bristow community, Ray was well known and well loved.
He attended Bristow Schools with the Class of 1957. Ray proudly served his country as a U.S. Army veteran and lived a life full of skill, talent, and grit. There was truly nothing he couldn’t do. He was a highly skilled welder, having worked on projects for NASA, an Oklahoma State Championship Senior horseshoe thrower, talented golfer, lucky poker player, gifted self-taught guitarist, former President of the Bristow Elks Lodge, and former board member of the Bristow Housing Authority.
Known by many as “the luckiest man in the world,” Ray once proved it by winning a brand-new Chevy pickup at the 1996 Bristow Western Heritage Days Rodeo, a truck he proudly drove for the rest of his life. He overcame countless medical setbacks with remarkable strength and resilience, always defying the odds.
Ray was a fixture in the community, especially as a regular at the local donut shop, where he loved to gather with friends, share stories, and enjoy the simple joys of fellowship. Though he wore many hats in life, his most cherished roles were father and grandfather.
Ray is survived by his sons, Garland Smith and wife Dana of Bristow, and Johnny Ray Smith and wife Michelle of Depew; six grandchildren, Kelsie Dobson and fiancé Mike, C.J. Smith, Kaylee May Smith, Cody Ray Smith and wife Kaitlin, Jeremy Smith, and Jaykub Smith; and four great-grandsons, Dawson Adney, Jaxon Ray Smith, Shoat Basden, and Taw Basden. He is also survived by his aunts, Jonell Coleman and Geneva Coleman; his devoted companion, Karol Claussen-Hale; along with a host of other family and friends who loved him dearly. He was preceded in death by his mother, Alma Coleman Smith; father, Earl Smith; grandparents, Thelma and Henry Coleman; aunt, Eulema Solomon; uncles, Brice Clayton Coleman, Robert Coleman, R.D. Coleman, and James Coleman; and by Maybelle, his first wife and the mother of Johnny Ray, as well as by his second wife, Earlene.
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