Zachary Britt Smith's Obituary
Zachary Britt Smith was born on a hot August day in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Britt Lee Smith and Pamela Love Payton Smith. His childhood included annoying his sister Amelia and brother Alan, spending time with his beloved grandparents Gaga, Nina, Smitty and Essie, and playing with the family dog, Satin.
Zach would ride his bike all over the small town of Okmulgee, Oklahoma where he grew up and could often be found camping by the lake, raiding Gaga’s bountiful garden of all the fruits and vegetables he could get his hands on, or running from house to house with all the neighbor’s kids and pets stirring up trouble wherever they went.
Being homeschooled, Zach graduated early and went to work as a machinist until he earned enough money to put himself through college. He earned his Associates of Applied Science (Electrical and Electronics Technology) degree in 2000 from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee while working as a radio broadcaster at KOKL (1240 AM), the local radio station.
After school, he moved to Dallas to work for Texas Instruments, where he met Nicole and had two beautiful children, Alex and Christian.
After that relationship ended, Zachary proceeded to make moves that led to his career in the telecommunications world, first as a Fiber Network Technician and moving his way up to a Senior Solutions Architect.
Zach met his wife Elizabeth in the spring of 2005 after a wedding between their mutual friends. After an initial dislike of each other, they slowly developed a friendship that led to getting married and having two beautiful children together, Jacob and Anne. With Elizabeth’s son Kent from her prior marriage, Zach felt that his life was complete as a husband and a father.
Zach was deeply involved in the online gaming community and had amassed a multitude of friends and compatriots that he loved just as much as the friends and family he had in life (IRL). He would never hesitate to lend a helping hand to those who needed it, whether he knew them well or not.
Zach passed suddenly the morning of January 20, 2024 after 17 years of marriage to Elizabeth. His family is devastated by the loss of the husband, father and friend he was to all. He will be remembered for his sense of humor, love of family, inability to throw anything away, crafty imagination, loudly sung Weird Al lyrics and a myriad of other qualities that made him the unique individual he was in life.
What’s your fondest memory of Zachary?
What’s a lesson you learned from Zachary?
Share a story where Zachary's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Zachary you’ll never forget.
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