Smith Jr., Michael J.

Michael J. Smith Jr.

Jefferson, Ohio

Feather Location: Row P, #08

Vicki Smith / Associated Press

…At the Steubenville church where the newlywed was baptized, confirmed and married, friends and family recalled a man who inspired them with laughter, love and quiet leadership.

An aunt described “a shy, funny little redheaded kid” while a cousin and fellow prankster called him her partner in crime and an “old soul.” His father, Michael Smith Sr. of Wellsburg, said he has tried to describe his son to many reporters in the past week, “but there’s not enough tape in the cameras or time in the world.” “There’s a void in our hearts that will never be filled,” he said.

Pastor Bethel Bateson said the funeral at Grace Lutheran Church was the hardest she has ever conducted, “because that beautiful red-haired boy playing under the pews grew up to be an incredible man.” Smith was a hero on and off the battlefield, becoming a leader in his church. On his last military leave, he walked up and down the aisles thanking people for their prayers, letters and packages, Bateson said. “He was so strong, physically strong, but so tender. He had a tremendous capacity for love,” she said. Bateson said one of Smith’s uncles recently told her, “Michael is the kind of man every man wishes he could be.”

At the cemetery, a Marine honor guard fired seven guns three times and a bugler played Taps.

Bateson said people who didn’t know Smith might be skeptical of the praise that others are now heaping upon him. “He really was that lovable. He really was that good. He really was that kind of man,” she said.

Carver: Sand Sikora carves with the Lorain County Wood Carvers

Wood:  Basswood