Lewis Ruil Smith was born on December 15, 1928, to Ruil H. Smith and Ethel Lewis Smith, in Eatonton, GA.
Active in church, he also participated in school sports, music, and debate programs. After graduating from Eatonton High School, Lewis went on to Mercer University, Southern Seminary, and then Georgia Medical College. In 1953 he met and dated Shirley Ann Gibbs. They were married on July 1, 1954, in Shirley’s hometown, Brunswick, GA.
Lewis and Shirley started their married life in Tripoli, Libya, thanks to the US Air Force, and welcomed their first child, Karen Elizabeth in May 1956. They moved back to Macon, GA, where Catherine (Cathy) and Susan joined the family in February 1959. They moved to Wake Forest, NC, so they could study to be foreign missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). David (Dave) Smith was born in May 1959, shortly before Lewis and Shirley were commissioned as Foreign Mission Board (FMB) missionaries, affirmed by First Baptist Church, Eatonton.
In January 1960, the Smith family moved to Hong Kong as medical missionaries. In addition to two years of intense Cantonese language classes, Lewis began work as a doctor in the Baptist Clinic and Shirley had her hands full caring for three children. Hong Kong Baptist Hospital was dedicated and opened in 1963. Their youngest child, Deborah Ruth, arrived in March 1963.
Lewis and Shirley served in Hong Kong, from 1960 to 1993, with several “furloughs” when they went back to the US for a year or so. They took an extended leave from 1969 to 1972 so Lewis could complete surgery residencies in Georgia and Louisiana. Back in Hong Kong, with Dr. Don Langford, another missionary doctor, Lewis founded the “Langford and Smith Medical Group.” This practice became a model for SBC medical missionaries to serve all patients including those who could not afford the needed care.
In 1993, Lewis and Shirley Smith retired after 33 years of service as missionaries and returned to Eatonton, GA, near Lewis’s mother, Ethel Smith. For a short while, Lewis worked in a medical practice and Shirley worked at the hospital.
They attended First Baptist Church, Eatonton.
Building a home next door to them, Lewis and Shirley provided care for his mother, “Miss Ethel,” until her death at 99 in 2009.
In April 2011, their son Dave Smith contracted a sudden illness and died on June 2, 2011. He was buried with military honors at what was then called Fort Benning, Georgia. In February 2012, Lewis and Shirley moved to Aldersgate Retirement Community in Charlotte, NC, where their daughter, Karen, was chaplain. They lived in an independent apartment until June 2016, when they moved to Assisted Living so they could receive more medical assistance. A few months later, Shirley moved to the Memory Support Assisted Living. In 2019, Lewis moved to the Asbury Skilled Nursing building on the Aldersgate campus, where he thrived. He had a power chair which gave him independence and he enjoyed gathering with friends for meals and working jigsaw puzzles in his room and later, at a big puzzle table in the shared Living Room.
In July 2020, Shirley Ann Gibbs Smith contracted COVID and died within a week. Shirley died peacefully and we know she went to be with her God. Lewis’s words upon her death were, “Shirley is Shirley again.
She is whole.”
During the pandemic of 2020, Asbury provided iPads to their residents so that family members could stay in touch with short FaceTime calls.
From 2020 through 2023, Deborah and Cathy set up FaceTime appointments with Lewis twice a week to do crossword puzzles together. Lewis remained smart and quick-witted and often got the answer when his daughters could not. What a gift those times were to him and to his daughters!
In October 2023, the family noticed a sudden and obvious change in Lewis’ health and called in Hospice. Lewis still had lucid moments, but his body was shutting down and he was at peace about having lived a good life.
His loved ones were able to spend several days visiting with him in person and via phone and FaceTime, including his great-grandchildren, Lyla, Wesley, and Marley, who were all able to speak (or wave) to him.
Dr. Lewis Ruil Smith died at 2:30 PM on October 15, 2023, with family at his bedside as he went peacefully from this world. He joined Shirley and Dave, and many others who went on before him. Lewis is whole again.
His wife, his son, and his parents predeceased Lewis. He is survived by his daughters: Karen (Carlton) Moore, Charlotte, NC; Cathy (David) Caviness, Clifton, VA; and Deborah Smith, Washington DC. Daughter- in-law: Marla Smith, Atlanta, GA. Grandchildren: Sara Smith, Rachel (Becky) Smith-Hunter, Emily (Robbie) Yancey, Stephen (Kylie) Caviness.
Great grandchildren: Lyla and Wesley Yancey, Marley Caviness.
A funeral service and committal with military honors will be held on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 2:00 pm at First Baptist Church, Eatonton, Georgia with visitation at 1:00 PM before the service.
Donations may be made to the Aldersgate Residents Assistance Fund, Finance Dept, 3800 Shamrock Dr, Charlotte, NC 28210.