James Quintin Smith was born on October 9, 1954 and passed away on February 25, 2024.
Quintin, or Q, as he was known to most was larger than life. He was a character in the truest sense of the term who worked hard, played hard and often had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He loved his family, his friends, Angus cattle, the James E. Ward Agricultural Center, and anything farm related.
He believed strongly in giving back to the community and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
Q left us much too soon at the age of 69 passing away at his home in Lebanon, TN surrounded by his family. He will be missed by all who knew him and will leave a void that will be hard to fill in the Agricultural Community of Wilson County and beyond.
Q was born in Lebanon in 1954 to James Ray and Dorothy Jean Smith the oldest of four boys. He and his brothers, Dintin (Cynthia), Lanas (Julie), and Allen (Sue), worked on the farm breeding Angus cattle and raising tobacco. Q’s father passed away in 1981 leaving Q as big brother and father figure to his siblings. He took the job seriously and continued bossing them (and many others) around until the end. He was devoted to his mother taking care of and checking on her daily.
He attended Shop Springs School his first eight years with a close-knit class consisting of nine kids. Despite running away from school several times and almost being expelled for spitting turnip greens in his teacher’s face, he went on to attend Lebanon High School, Cumberland University (College at the time) and Middle Tennessee State University where he received a double major in Animal Science and Plant and Soil Science.
It was during his time at MTSU that he met Vicki Kay Walker. It was a whirlwind romance as they met in the Fall of 1974 and married less than a year later on March 8, 1975 in Elora, TN. While the courtship was quick, they knew true love when they found it and you almost never saw one without the other. Vicki never left his side and provided constant care for him over the last year (and if you ask the girls many years before that.)
Vicki and Q had four daughters: Jamie (Daren) Nicholson, Sonya (Matt) Wright, Robbie (Heath) Springer, and Callie Que (Kyle) Hayner. He enjoyed traveling the country showing Angus cattle with his girls. There are many great memories of seeing new places, enjoying outrageous adventures and winning numerous awards. He was very proud to be able to say that ALL four of his daughters placed in the Top Five at the National Junior Angus Show Showmanship competition.
While Quintin loved being a dad, he reveled in being a granddad. He went from a strict father with lots of rules to telling his daughters often that they were being too hard on the grandkids never missing an opportunity to tell them how much he loved them. There was nothing he enjoyed more than spending time with Josie, Roland, Spencer, Reagan, Ella, Lilly and Quinn. Playing checkers, watching them show cattle, teaching them to play rook, going for pony rides, or just riding them around the fairgrounds or farm filled his heart with joy.
Q bred some of the best cattle in the country winning numerous local, state, regional and national championships. Not only did he know how to breed them but he knew how to pick them judging shows all across the US and Canada including the North American International, The Denver Stock Show and the All American Angus Breeder’s Futurity.
At the age most people would be thinking about retirement, Q decided to take his first job off the farm as the Director of the James E. Ward Agricultural Center. He was elected to the Wilson County Commission and served from 1975-1978 becoming the youngest person at the time to be elected to this office. It was during this time that the land for the fairgrounds was purchased. He then served on the first Ag Committee and served all but four years since its inception until becoming the Director in 2017. The facility thrived under his leadership. He brought in numerous events including several national level cattle shows, the Dancing Lights of Christmas and the Little Britches Rodeo. He also expanded the number of barns and buildings on the grounds, while making sure there was no trash lying around anywhere during his tenure.
Q was a true community leader serving on numerous boards and always making time to give back. Some of his favorites were the MTEMC Nominating Committee, the Farm Bureau and the Lebanon Jaycees. One of his favorite events each year was the upcoming Annual Tennessee Beef Agribition. (He would want us to note that it is set for March 8-10 at the James E. Ward Ag Center and is open to the public.) He has been involved with Agribition since inception and felt it was an important event for the industry and to teach and support youth in agriculture
Q was blessed to have many wonderful people in his life and he was fiercely loyal to those he considered his friends. He loved to be where the action was and enjoyed having opportunities to catch up and share stories with the people he cared about. He was appreciative of all the visits he received the past few months. People from across the country came to visit and he was grateful for the efforts made on his behalf and enjoyed the time spent and memories made.
In addition to his immediate family, Q is survived by his nieces and nephews Paige (Johnny) Rempfer, Parker (Mallory) Smith, David Smith, Jessica (Austin) Horne, Chance (Gracie) Smith, Tori Smith and Madison Smith as well as great niece Ally Horne and great nephew Brantley Smith and numerous cousins. He was preceded in death by his father Ray, his brother Dintin, his grandparents, his granddaughter Avril Jean Springer and several aunts and uncles.
For those that knew him well, he never said good-bye (unless he was truly done with you) so instead we will just end here and say “until next time” and until then remember a good Q story.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, February 29, 2024 from 10 until 2 at the Made In Tennessee Building at the James E. Ward Agricultural Center (945 E. Baddour Pkwy. Lebanon, TN). The funeral will be at 2:00 with the burial immediately following.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Annual Tennessee Beef Agribition or the Wilson County Ag Hall of Fame.
Officiating the service will be Tim Diffenderfer with friends and family Lt. Gen. William N. Phillips, Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, Spencer Wright, Paul Hill and Robbie Springer to share stories.
Active Pall Bearers will be Kyle Hayner (son-in-law), Daren Nicholson (son-in-law) Allen Smith (brother), Chance Smith (nephew), David Smith (nephew), Lanas Smith (brother), Parker Smith (nephew), Heath Springer (son-in-law), Roland Springer (grandson) and Matthew Wright (son-in-law).
Partlow Funeral Chapel is in care of arrangements 615-444-7007 partlowchapel.com
For more obituaries visit https://wilsoncountysource.com/obituaries/
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