Our Staff

Our Staff

Staff members of Smith Family Mortuaries are caring and experienced professionals who understand that each family is unique and has personal requests and traditions. These requests and traditions are of utmost importance to our staff of licensed funeral directors.

Justin Smith

President

As a Derby High Alumni, Justin is very involved within the community, where he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Derby Community Foundation. He also served on the Chamber of Commerce and Derby's Planning Commission. Justin and his wife, have four children in the Derby School District, and are members of the Woodlawn United Methodist Church. He is a graduate of Emporia State University, enjoys hunting, golfing, and spending time with his family. Justin is the past President of the Kansas Funeral Directors Association.

Jackie Hartman

Director of Advance Planning & After Care

Jackie joined Smith Family Mortuaries in 2004.  She enjoys meeting new people on a daily basis and is proud of her work helping individuals plan for their future funeral needs.  

Jack Webster

Funeral Director

Jack Webster joined Smith Family Mortuaries in 2005. He attended the Dallas Institute of Funeral Services.

Christopher Strohmeyer

Funeral Director


Christopher joined Smith Family Mortuaries in January of 2014. He graduated from the Mortuary Science program at Kansas City Kansas Community College in 2004. In his free time, Christopher enjoys developing software, gravel biking, and playing guitar.

Jason Arellano

Funeral Director

Jason graduated from the Mortuary Science program at Kansas City Kansas Community College in 2000.  He lived and worked in Texas for 17 years before moving back "home" to Kansas to work at Smith Family Mortuaries.  When he's not working, Jason enjoys spending time with his family.

Richard E. "Rick" Brenneman

Funeral Director

Rick is a Kansas native. He graduated from Kansas City Kansas Community College with an Associates degree in Mortuary Arts in 1988. That same year, he returned to his hometown of Newton , KS to begin his career as a Funeral Director and Embalmer. Later, he was hired as a funeral home manager living briefly in Casper, WY and Hutchinson, KS.
In 1999, the opportunity to purchase a funeral home in Liberal, KS unexpectedly presented itself. Rick is a visionary so the transition to ownership went very smoothly, and the business grew to nearly double in size. After 17 years of serving families in Liberal, Rick sold the funeral home and moved to the Kansas City area. Following the move, he worked for the State of Kansas for two years but found that he greatly missed the opportunity of helping families. Rick feels that working in funeral service has been a calling instead of a job and he was led to return to his profession.

Rick is somewhat of a car enthusiast, he has his grandmother's 1952 Buick that he enjoys showing at local car shows. Rick has two sons, Blake and Thiago, daughter in law Sheina and two grandchildren.

Breanne Colby

Funeral Director

Breanne graduated from Kansas City Kansas Community College in 2007 with a degree in mortuary science. She has been serving the Wichita community as a licensed funeral director since 2008. Breanne joined Smith Family Mortuaries in March of 2020.

Lyman Wheeler

Funeral Director

Lyman is a Kansas native, having grown up on a farm outside of Rock. He graduated from Wichita State University, and the Mortuary Science program at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma. After owning funeral homes in Burden, Cedar Vale, and Winfield for 13 years, he joined Smith Family Mortuaries. In 2005, he left Kansas to experience first Denver, then Los Angeles, but never left funeral service. With two sons and lots of family here, he is very glad to return, both to Kansas, and to Smith Family Mortuaries.

Brian Smith

Funeral Director

Brian was born and raised in northwestern Kansas and received his Associate’s Degree in Mortuary Science from Kansas City Kansas Community College in 1997. After graduation, he moved to Wichita where he worked for a family-owned mortuary for 25 years. In 2021, Brian decided to further his education. He went back to school and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Funeral Service Management from Mid-America College of Funeral Service, where he was Valedictorian of his graduating class. Brian began working at Smith Family Mortuaries in 2022 where he appreciates the flexibility of ownership and working with an experienced staff. Outside of the business, Brian enjoys cooking, playing guitar, DIY projects, and laughing with his two boys.

Dennis Christie

Embalmer
 

Dennis started with Smith Family Mortuaries in 2018.  He graduated from Mortuary Science Department at Cypress College in 1999.

Kim Foster

Financial Controller

As another Derby Alumni on our staff, Kim stays busy with her involvement with Derby Sports and kids events. Kim and her husband, who is a football coach at Derby High, have their two children also within the school district. Kim graduated from Wichita State University, with a Bachelors Business Accounting Degree in 2002 and Masters Degree in 2007.

David Luke

Bailee Wintermote

Office Manager

Bailee started working part-time for Smith Family Mortuaries in 2021, assisting with services, visitations, and clerical work on an at-need basis. In 2022, she joined the full-time office staff in Derby .
When away from work, Bailee enjoys spending time with her husband and family, especially on family game night. Bailee loves being a part of the Smith Mortuary family, serving others.
Share by: