Mark Allen Smith, 57, passed away unexpectedly Sunday, March 18, 2018 at Ohio Health Mansfield Hospital of heart failure.
Mark was born September 23, 1960, in Ashland, to Ronald D. and Suzanne (Spake) Smith.
He was a 1978 graduate of Ashland High School and has lived in the Ashland area all his life.
Mark accepted Christ as his Savior when he was a teenager. He was a former member of First Baptist Church and more recently attended Grace Brethren Church. He was a member of Ashland Eagles 2178 and the Ashland County Farm Bureau.
Farming was Mark’s passion. He was a life time grain farmer. He began his farming career while still in high school, with his father. He gradually expanded his farming operation purchasing and renting ground in the area. He loved to go deer hunting with his sons and snowmobiling with his wife and sons in Michigan and New York. He was a familiar face at all the hay auctions every week with his son Andrew. Mark loved tractor pulling at the Ashland County Fair. He had been pulling since he was 15 years old and never missed a year, winning several trophies. He enjoyed camping at Pleasant Hill Park, and spending time on the water with family. He loved to travel, eat out and going to movies. He also loved his cats and dogs. The past two years of declining health, due to kidney failure, prevented him from doing the things he enjoyed.
Mark is survived by his wife of 38 years, Cheryl (Osborne) Smith who he married on July 17, 1980. He is also survived by his sons, Aaron (Dana) Smith, Adam (Megan) Smith of Ashland, and Andrew (Amanda) Smith of Polk. He is also survived by his 12 grandchildren, Hunter, Ryan, Alyssa, Kaylee, Breanna, Colten, Mason, Natalie, Kristen, Audrey, Noah & Isaac. His parents, Ronald D and Suzanne Smith of Ashland; two brothers, Todd Smith of Ashland; Kent (Gina) Smith of Perrysville; a sister, Laura (Jay) Winland of Jeromesville; his in laws, Charles & Pat Osborne of Savannah, brothers-in-law, Scott (Kathy) Osborne and Brian (Renae) Osborne and several nieces and nephews.
Mark was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Forest and Edna Smith and maternal grandparents, Louis and Ida Spake.
Funeral services will be held Thursday March 22, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the Denbow-Gasche Funeral Home with Dr. Terry Wardle officiating. Burial will be in the Strickland Cemetery on Rt. 511 South. Friends may call on Wednesday March 21, 2018 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, Memorial contributions may be made to the family and left at the funeral home.
For those not able to attend, online expressions of sympathy made be left for the family by visiting denbowfh.com
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