Marquette Heights COVID-19 victim was adoring grandfather and always ready to help others – Pekin Daily Times

Mike Kramer|Pekin Daily Times

After Mike Smith of Marquette Heights was taken to OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria for treatment of COVID-19 complications earlier this month, his family decorated his house for Christmas in anticipation of his return home.

We didnt have any decorations up, said Smiths wife, Mary. Our kids helped get stuff out of the garage and decorated, because we thought he would come home.

Mike Smith passed away on the afternoon of Dec. 4 at the age of 64, without a chance to see the holiday dcor. Mary asserted that the family had been vigilant about physical distancing protocols and about wearing personal protective equipment. Noting that Smith contracted COVID-19 in spite of his precautions, she urged central Illinois residents to take the pandemic seriously and to adhere to public safety protocols.

Its not just about (your safety), she stated. Its about everyone else that youre around. Its about other people getting sick. Its the easiest thing to do... to wear the dang mask. I just dont understand why some people wont.

Smiths son, Brandon, said that he and his wifeJodiwere initially skeptical about the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having the novel coronavirus make such a profound impact on his family appears to have eradicated that skepticism.

This is the hardest thing my family and I have ever had to go through, Brandon said. Regardless of what anybody thinks about COVID-19, its real. Nobody should have to go through this when there are precautions you can easily take to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Brandon added that his father was "a servant of God" in his capacity as a deacon at Christ Bible Church in Creve Coeur. But he was also, first and foremost, a servant of mankind.

His joy in life was serving people however he could, whether it was financially, physically or mentally, Brandon added. It could be through conversations with people he worked with at Caterpillar, or whether it was through helping people rebuild something at home or at church.

Smith apparently paid special attention to an exhortation from the biblical Book of Leviticus to love thy neighbor as thyself." Brandon remembered that he was involved in every church function, and Mary recalls that he was always conversing with one neighbor or another,always ready to respond to a call for help.

He loved the kids, Mary said. He fixed their bikes for them. He let them ride around on the carts we had in the yard. He was just that kind of guy. He wasnt the grumpy old neighbor. He was the guy all the kids wanted to come over and see. He liked everybody and everybody liked him.

Brandon recalled that a major driving force in Smiths life was his love for his five grandchildren. He may have found his own parents intervention in the discipline of his children frustrating, but Smith stepped enthusiastically into the role of grandfather-as-sanctuary when his turn came.

If we were misbehaving and about to get in trouble, my grandpa would call us over, Brandon said. Hed sit us on his lap and say Leave these kids alone. It made (our parents) so mad when we were growing up, and then (dad) had grandkids and he instantly turned into his dad.

Jodi believes that no role suited Smith better than that of adoring grandfather. He was ready to attend any function involving his grandchildren, and one of his chief pleasures was spending days off from work in their company.

He was at every dance recital, she stated. He was at every soccer game, every softball game, and every choir concert. He was always the proudest, biggest-smile-on-his-face grandpa. If there were something involving the kids, he would drop whatever he was doing to do whatever they wanted, even if it was something crazy.

According to Brandon, Smith had acquired a variety of skills that made his services as a handyman much in demand from both family and friends.

"He could do electrical work, Brandon said. "He could do construction. He could do plumbing or automotive (work). He could do literally a little bit of everything. Our answer was call Pops. Now, were going to have to dig a little deeper to fine-tune our own skills, find somebody we trustor spend a lot of time on YouTube watching how-to videos.

For Mary, the fact that Smith was such a people person made the isolated nature of his last hours all the more heartbreaking.

When Mike went to the hospital, they just whisked him out of the carand I didnt get to be with him ever again until the day he died, she said. It was awful. Thats the hardest thing: to think that he was lonely and afraid, and none of us could be there with him.

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Marquette Heights COVID-19 victim was adoring grandfather and always ready to help others - Pekin Daily Times