Joshua R. Smith's Obituary
Joshua Randal Smith was born on December 20, 1992, on Galveston Island, Texas. He was the oldest of 11 children to whom he was a great big brother. Josh was naturally inquisitive, finding interest in everything. Josh walked to the beat of his own sound and often did not conform to “popular” beliefs or customs but loved to dive deeper – asking why something was a certain way, or why people behaved in a certain way. He was fiercely independent, strong, and smart. We were always amazed at the level of detail he knew about everything…from the Theory of Relativity to the prices of oil to shipping trade routes in southeast Asia and often asked ourselves, “how does he know this?” He loved computer development and was always working on a new, innovative app idea, including cool names for them. He made such an impact at his accounting job in a short time, his CEO visited him in the hospital and shared they would be naming a conference room after him in honor of his dedication to his job.
Josh typically avoided large crowds & parties, but had the most intimate, close friendships imaginable. His favorite novel was the Lord of the Rings, and he admired the bond Frodo had with his brothers. Turns out, Josh also had this deep, special bond with his group of brothers that was formed in elementary school and still exists today.
On the home front, we could always look to Josh to organize us for some activity, whether gathering his siblings and parents across 3 different states to play “Among Us” online together, to insisting we download a certain mobile app for secure communication. He loved the traditional Thanksgiving meal, especially the cranberry sauce and Christmas time. He would lounge in his fleece pants & hoodie and program on his laptop in the middle of our chaos, or secluded away, but not far enough away to miss our noise. He would frequently spend 1:1 time with his siblings that seemed to be struggling or needing attention the most. He had such perception; he could easily spot & reach out to the one who was having a bad day. While he never gave up hope for cure during his short, but strong struggle with cancer, he did speak with his brother Joel and passed the torch to him to assume the big brother role.
When Josh was younger, he had a school assignment to write a paper about the person he admired most. He wrote it about the apostle Paul. He said Paul made such a huge difference in the world by sharing about Jesus and that he wanted to become like him. During Josh’s 20s, he re-looked at his faith and questioned what he believed. He asked God to reveal himself to him. Josh’s last week on earth, he had a vivid dream he told us about where God revealed himself to Josh. Josh shared he was afraid and felt very small, but God said to not be afraid and that this was His plan for him since he was 18, and it was for God’s glory. Josh received God’s plan and surrendered his life & Spirit to him once again and is no doubt, enjoying all the majesty of Heaven and our Heavenly Father right now. He went to join the Father on August 15th, 2022. We can only imagine what his conversation with Paul might be like.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (GNT) – “Our friends, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in him. (v18) So then, encourage one another with these words.”
What’s your fondest memory of Joshua?
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Share a story where Joshua's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Joshua you’ll never forget.
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