John Smith

John Adam Smith, age 84, went to meet his Savior on March 29, 2025. John was born May 9, 1940, in Bakersfield, California but spent most of his childhood in various Oklahoma locations.

John believed in education and after receiving his master’s degree, he entered the fields of high school basketball and golf coaching. Along with the sports – he also taught advanced mathematics – frustrating the people around him as he would do it all in his head. He spent his early coaching career in Iowa and then Colorado before joining the staff at West High School in Wichita, Kansas. He was so proud of the teams he coached. He even took the West High Golf Team to a state championship in 1972. Later, in 2022, he was inducted into the Wichita West High Athletic Hall of Fame.

John eventually left the field of coaching and teaching and after getting his real estate license he, along with his wife Judith, went on to form a new-construction marketing company in 1988.

John is survived by his wife Judith Ann (Cox) Smith, brothers Charles Bonner Smith (Sandra), Arthur Lee Smith (Barbara); Children – Shawn Bonner Smith (Terri), Stephanie Lynne Lowry, Robin Rene Hladik (Frank), Heidi Jolyn Hernandez, and Rhonda Kay Smith.

His family also includes 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren (plus one more on the way). John had one brother, Lewis Glen Smith, and two sisters, Kathy Smith Evans and Jean Smith Wilson, who predeceased him along with his parents, Homer Bonner and Syble Maxine Smith.

A life celebration will be held at Central Community Church, 6100 W. Maple St., Wichita, KS at 11:00 am on Friday, April 4, 2025. Pastor Bob Beckler officiating.