Obituary of Robert J. Smith Jr.

Robert J. Smith Jr., 87, of Adams, NY passed away peacefully early Wednesday morning, June 14, 2023 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, surrounded by his wife and all of his children. Calling hours will be 3-7 pm Monday June 19th at the Piddock Funeral Home in Adams. The funeral will be Tuesday June 20th at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Adams at 11 am. Family & friends are welcome to gather at the creek at Bob and Sally’s house following the funeral. If you plan to join them at the picnic, please bring a lawn chair. Bob was the first child of Robert and Ella Mae (Davis) Smith, born at home on August 16, 1935, not far from where he spent 87 years “writing his life’s story”. He attended school in Adams and was often heard saying “I attended school until I no longer could take shop classes”. Bob grew up on a farm but that was not his passion. His working away from the farm days started at GL Thomas Feeds “throwing feed bags around” as he would say. He then migrated into almost every car business in Adams where he worked at KB Motors and Goslin’s Auto, and could be found at Ken Wade Motors at times. Bob then opened his own body shop that was located where the older building of the South Jefferson Rescue Squad is located now. It sadly burned in the 1960’s and at that point he began his business on Outer East Church Street. During this time, Bob was running a gas station for Dick Goslin. This is where the next chapter of his life and many more chapters were written. Bob’s first marriage to Barb Wetterhahn ended in divorce. They had two children, Marty and Danny. Sally A. Bourcy from Cape Vincent was passing through Adams and wanted a radio installed in her vehicle and low and behold she stopped into Goslin’s Auto Sales. They sent Sally across the road to the gas station and Bob installed the radio, and then the story is they went to the Shady Rest for a drink. Bob and Sally were married February 18, 1966. In 1972, Bob and Sally purchased Bailey Auto Parts that was located in the lower part of the building that now houses The Xtreme SportsPlex in Adams, however they never operated from that location. They moved the business from there to the location on outer East Church Street where it soon became the birthplace of Bob’s Auto Supply and the affiliation with NAPA. This is when Gary Tyner stopped in for a few minutes which turned into a lifelong employment for Gary, and where he became Bob’s right hand man and brother-in-law. This work relationship remained strong and very important to both of these men until Gary’s very unfortunate passing in 1991. Back to the farm. Bob has often said that he was around 9 years old when he “finally made it to the big town” meaning where the stop light is in Adams, mind you this was only about 2 miles from the farm. On one of these adventures, he met Rufus Chalmers, (Guffy). Guffy would very quickly become a farm hand and had a room at the farmhouse. Guffy and Bob became the best of friends, “until death do us part.” Bob is Survived by his loving wife Sally. He is also survived by his children; Marty Smith, Kelly (Dean) Widrick, Scott (Deana) Smith and Tina (Neal) Tyrrell; his grandchildren Ryan (Erin) Smith, Collin Smith, Logan Smith, Earle (Kaley) Widrick, Justin Widrick, Jessica Widrick, Jordan (Nikki) Smith, Lexi Smith (Dylan Daughen), Carter Smith (Jazzlynn Maass), Nathan Smith (Macey Castor), Ellie Smith, Samantha Tyrrell (Cameron Jackson), Lia Tyrrell (Joseph Soules) and Megan Tyrrell; great grandchildren Bennett, Weston, Everett, Annie, Leighton, Kaylynn, Kip and Lucy; his sisters Betty Tyner Pine and LuAnn (George) Werbacher; along with several nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and a cousin. He also is survived by many other special people that thought the world of him including Brian, Seth, Tim, Ryan and Mark his extra sons and Jessie, Tammy and Cathy his extra daughters. Bob was tragically predeceased by his son Danny in 2021 and his grandson Luke Tyrrell in 2018, his sisters Patricia (Jim) Ryder and Joan (Harry) Marquette, brothers-in-law William Pine, Russell Backus, and Wesley Bourcy, and a sister-in-law Nancy Backus. And of course-ALL his furry-four legged children. Bob covered a “lot of territory” in 87 years. He and Sally traveled to Mexico and Hawaii, and drove their motorcycle cross country to California. They explored most every inch of the Adirondacks by camper and canoe. He also acquired his pilot’s license at a very young age and at one point he and his dad owned two planes. He piloted trips between Adams and Massachusetts, Bob and Sally even flew the Piper Cherokee to Florida and back. In his younger years Bob was also involved in stock car and snowmobile racing. Bob and Sally enjoyed the last few winters in New Symrna Beach, Florida with Dean and Kelly. Bob has been the “go to person” for MANY mechanics and farmers in Adams for all his adult life. If Bob didn’t have a way to fix it, it was probably ready for the junk pile. Unfortunately, the only thing Bob couldn’t fix was his body. His body was worn but his mind was not. In lieu of flowers please consider making a contribution to the following: Adams Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Luke Tyrrell’s Scholarship Foundation, the Diabetes Foundation or your choice of an animal shelter. Dad loved animals, especially dogs. Arrangements are with the Piddock Funeral Home Inc, Adams, NY. Condolences may be made at www.piddockfuneralhome.com