Marvin Dale Smith, age 88 of Stillwater, passed away Thursday, November 9, 2023 after battling pneumonia. Services will begin 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at the Solid Rock Church in Stillwater with Pastor Dan Yankunas officiating. Burial will follow in Fairlawn Cemetery. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.


Words cannot express how much he meant to us and the following is just a snapshot of his remarkable life. Marvin was born on September 23, 1935 to Victor Earl Smith and Myrtle Fern (Decker) Smith in Afton, Iowa. The family moved to Republican City, Nebraska in 1945. During High School, Marvin played football and a beautiful cheerleader for the opposing team in Naponee, Nebraska, named Carol Lee Eisenhauer, caught his eye.


He finally got the chance to meet her when their church youth groups had a "meet and greet" at a roller rink in a neighboring town. Dad liked to say she picked him first since they announced "women's choice skating partner" but he was quick to pick her back when they announced "men's choice" and that was the beginning of them picking only each other for the rest of their lives together! After High School graduation in 1954, Marvin initially opted out of college and worked to earn money in order to marry Carol, the love of his life. They wed on July 15, 1956 in Naponee, Nebraska in a quaint octagonal church that is now a museum.


Marvin joined the US Army in January, 1957 stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia and served until December, 1958 at which time he received an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Sergeant and began his pursuit of a college education at the Northrop Institute of Technology in Inglewood, California. Getting into college was a challenge initially since he didn't take algebra in High School. He told the story of how his teacher let him substitute a mechanics course for a math grade since he assumed he would have a career as a farmer. However, algebra was a requirement for admission into the Institute of Technology, so he proceeded to take a self-taught course to prepare for the admission exam.


The course proved more difficult than anticipated and he was running out of time to take the test and stay on track for admission so he stopped trying to study and took a shot at the test. Many concepts on the test were unfamiliar so he laughingly recalled proceeding to randomly guess and hum his way through the multiple-choice format. He passed "by the grace of God" and so began his educational journey. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Northrop Institute of Technology in 1962. While earning this degree he worked as a draftsman at Trans land Aircraft and North American Aviation in California. Marvin and Carol then moved to Denver, CO where he worked as a staff engineer and went back to school to earn a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1963.


Their son, Mike, was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1963 while he worked as an engineer. During this time, they lived in a house so near an Air Force base training facility that their house would shake as jets flew over and practice parachute drops with men as well as equipment (including small tanks) were made in the field next door. Dad jokingly recalled Mom quickly bringing in Mike from playing outdoors when drops began because the landings weren't always on target. Sometimes the airmen landed on their roof or on their car! And, thankfully, they never had a close call with a tank dropping from the sky!


In 1965, Marvin accepted an instructor position in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Iowa State University. His daughter, Julie, was born in 1966 during his teaching tenure at ISU (1965-1970) and he earned his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1970 from ISU. The family then moved to Tulsa in 1970 for Marvin to accept an Assistant Professorship in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Tulsa.


Marvin and Carol's youngest daughter, Shari, was born in 1971 while they lived in Tulsa. The Smith Family made one last move in 1975 to Stillwater, Oklahoma when he was recruited for an Associate Professor and subsequent Department Head position for the department of Aeronautical, Mechanical Power and Petroleum Technology at Oklahoma State University.


He also served as Interim Head of the Dept of Fire Protection and Safety. He remained at OSU until his retirement in June of 2004. During his tenure at OSU, Marvin published multiple research papers, developed the Geothermal Heat Pump Research Lab on campus and worked as a consulting Professional Engineer. The man who initially was intimidated by math ultimately won many accolades for his engineering research. Following retirement from OSU, Marvin worked alongside his son, in Mike's business, Heritage Petroleum. He never officially retired and was blessed to be able to continue working daily with Mike and his grandson, Brandon, as long as he was physically able to do so.


Marvin's love for his family was only eclipsed by his love for the Lord. His favorite pastime was reading, studying and praying the Word and he never passed up an opportunity to preach at a service or share the Word one-on-one with others. His countenance was proof that the Spirit lived inside him and his quick smile, big hugs and heartfelt greeting of "blessings on you" lifted the spirits of all who met him. He taught us all what unconditional love meant and how to show God's love to others.


Marvin and Carol had a wonderful life together for 55 years, 5 months and 5 days after which time she passed away from ALS in 2011. He was also preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Arvid Smith and Allen Smith.


Marvin made a positive impact on so many people's lives and he will be lovingly remembered by numerous friends and family. He is survived by his son, Mike Smith and wife Nataliya; two daughters, Julie Kemmerly and husband Adam, and Shari Harwood and husband Steve; grandchildren Brittany Smith, Brandon Smith and wife, Katy, Jordan Kemmerly, Stephanie Harwood, Kyle Smith, Megan Kemmerly, Austin Harwood, Nicole Smith, Victoria Mamedova, and Nadya Jones and husband, Garrett; as well as great-grandchildren Henry, Brady, Gentry Rose, and Sadie-Kate; and siblings Vonnie Jensen of Minden, Nebraska and Jerry Smith of Denver, Colorado.