Aug. 27, 1928 - Nov. 4, 2007
LITCHFIELD -- John Edward DeSmith, 79, of Litchfield died Sunday at Cosmos Assisted Living Plus in Cosmos.
Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home in Litchfield. Memorials are preferred.
He was born Aug. 27, 1928, in Tracy to John and Edna (Irwin) DeSmith. He grew up in Walnut Grove. In 1946, he graduated from Walnut Grove High School.
In 1949, he moved to the Litchfield area, where he worked as an auto mechanic for the Ford dealership and other dealerships. He retired in 1990.
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He married Diane Dougherty on Dec. 8, 1991, in Litchfield.
He was in the Litchfield Fire Department, the Litchfield Rescue Squad and the Meeker County first aid. He was a past chief of Litchfield Fire Department and Litchfield Rescue Squad. He also was a first aid instructor in Meeker County.
He is survived by his wife; children: Karen Tuman (and special friend Jim Braadland) of Darwin, Pat Rueckert of Litchfield, Randy (and Tami) DeSmith of Manassas, Va., Rick (and Robin) DeSmith of Litchfield, Gary (and Kay) DeSmith of Cokato and Scott (and Deb) DeSmith of Litchfield, step-children: Mary (and Bob) Riley of Seville, Fla., Mark Christenson of Florida and Cindy (and Brad) Mohr of Litchfield, 11 grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a brother and a son-in-law, Bob Rueckert.
