Obituary of Thomas Keith Smith

Thomas Keith Smith of Santa Cruz, CA died December 12 from a sudden illness. Tom was born January 16, 1959 in Murphy, NC where he spent his early childhood.  His family relocated to Santa Cruz in 1969. Tom and his wife, Carol, met when they worked together in the early 1980’s. Tom left that job to work for the city of Santa Cruz where he has been employed for thirty years. Tom and Carol were married in their home on December 9, 1989. He ran through many hobbies over his lifetime; baseball, golfing, bowling, motocross, restoring vintage bikes, riding his Harley and carrying on long phone conversations, discussing eBay finds, with his longtime friend Tyler Carlson. Tom’s friends all knew how opinionated and gruff he could be, but they also knew how caring and kind he really was. If he knew someone needed help, he didn’t wait, he acted before being asked. He is sincerely missed. Tom is survived by his wife Carol (Lynn), step-daughter, Michelle (Randy) Richmond of Santa Cruz, step-sons David Harrison of South San Francisco and Richard Tyson Sheppard of Ben Lomond. He is also survived by his parents, Jo and Keith Smith of Capitola, his sister Lori Vaca of Nevada, aunts Buffy Brunner of Georgia and Madrian Parlmateer of California. He is additionally survived by two grand-daughters, Jessie (Josh) Miller and Lacey Richmond-Harrison, grandson Liam Sheppard, and a great grand-daughter Hazel Avila all of Santa Cruz county, his niece Anna Lee Vaca and grand-niece Charlotte Vaca, of Nevada. His cousin, Tina Bennet and her son Garret live in Georgia and many other relatives live in North Carolina.