Roderick Kelsey Smith II went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Rod was born February 27, 1963 and grew up in East Grand Rapids, Michigan and was the proud son of a World War II US Army Captain now buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, and his mother Marjorie, who was a tenured English teacher at Godwin Heights Middle School in Wyoming as well as a gifted musician who played cello in the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra for many years.

Rod’s father enlisted into World War II as a private, rose up the ranks through combat deployments, and earned the Bronze Star for heroics during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest in late 1944, which at 88 days was the longest battle on German soil during that war. He was also awarded medals for infantry combat and sharpshooting.

Determined to follow in his father’s footsteps, Rod enlisted in the Navy as a private after high school graduation, was promoted to Seaman Recruit, and over the course of his peacetime military career was awarded four Navy Achievement Medals for his administrative leadership in service to superior officers commanding the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier nicknamed the "Ike".

Rod will be remembered for being highly intelligent, amusingly eccentric, kind, generous, knowledgeable about all kinds of subjects. We are so thankful that after a long search in life he found a loving home in McBain during his final years. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.

A celebration of Rod’s life will be held from 1-3 pm, Sunday, March 15 2026 at the McBain City Building. Arrangements are being handled by the Burkholder-Nielsen Funeral Home in McBain.