Thomas Smith Jr

Thomas Hunter Smith Jr., 66, of Holcombe, died on Saturday, October 24 at Luther Mayo in Eau Claire.

Tom was born February 16, 1949 and raised in Williamsburg, Virginia with good friends Rick and Donny. After graduating from James Blair High School with the class of 1967, Tom was drafted into the US Army where he served from 1968-1970 . After leaving the Army, he worked at Dow-Badische Corporation where he found a life-long friend in Malcolm. Along with Ron "Sky King", Charlie, Richard, John, "Foot", Jerry and Billy they spent many hours rebuilding and riding Harleys around the east coast. At 1977's Daytona bike week, he met Denise. Eight weeks later, they were married in Virginia. After a year in Virginia, they left for Ely, Minnesota in a 1949 panel truck. After experiencing a winter in Ely, they loaded up the panel truck and headed west to Idaho. In 1980, Tom and Denise settled on a hobby farm in Holcombe, Wisconsin. Tom worked at Morrison Implement which fueled his interest in restoring John Deere tractors. Over the course of a decade at Morrison's,Tom met many more new friends. After retiring from Chippewa County in 2011, Tom spent his time working on a 1978 Harley Davidson, a 1936 John Deere A, building and collecting black powder rifles, and four wheel rides through Chippewa County. Many hours were spent with family and friends in Tom's gun shop.

Preceded in death by parents Thomas and Elizabeth (Kirby) Smith and in-laws Marvin and Dorothy Erickson.

Survived by wife of 38 years Denise (Erickson), brother John Kempton (Polly), sisters Frances Hazelwood and Linda Cunneen (Mike); nieces and nephews Donna, Gail, Steve (Cindy), Scott and Kevin. all of Virginia; brother-in-law Steve (Peggy) Erickson, sisters-in-law Mary (David) Hrdlicka and Laura (Jim) Provos; nephews and nieces, Nels (Malorie), Leif (Nicole), Shane, Lyndsey and Courtney, all of Wisconsin.

A celebration of life will be held in the spring of 2016. Burial will be at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner.