Kenneth Allen Smith the sixth and youngest son of seven children, was born to Julius and Jesse Lee Smith on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 1953. Kenneth, aka ‘Kenny’ or ‘Choc’ as his old friends and family called him was raised in Cleveland, OH. As a teenager, Kenny always found ways to keep money in his pocket by shining shoes around the Kinsman area and cutting hair. He was even the neighborhood paperboy for many years delivering “The Cleveland Press” at the time. He graduated from John Adams High School in 1971. And attended the Lear Siegler Institute in Maryland to study fashion design.

In 1970, Kenny met Diane Bennett the love of his life for over 53 years at John F. Kennedy High School. They wed in 1973 and out of that union were born two children Dana and Brandi. Kenny and Diane loved to host family and friends and they loved to hand-dance together.

By the age of 20, Kenny worked for Kinney’s Shoe Store, some people even though he owned Kinney Shoes as the brand name might have suggested, on top of the fact he was a store manager there for over 10 years. In later years, Kenny attended night school at Tri-C, and in 1992 he earned an Associate’s Degree in Electrical Engineering; And provided 21 years of dedicated service at General Motors, Parma Plant as a Journeyman, Mastercraft Machinist.

Throughout the years Kenny had many hobbies; he made his own snakeskin shoes and belts. He learned to make jewelry, mostly silver rings with gemstones. He repaired car engines and painted houses. Not to mention he boxed as a young man and took up golfing in his later years. You could always find him in the basement reading a book to learn something new or in his basement shop fixing or making something. Kenny was a wise and intelligent man who was mechanically inclined. If you needed something fixed you called Kenny, if you needed some advice or help solving a problem, you called Kenny. If you needed a loan, you called Kenny. Calling Kenny if you had a problem was like contacting modern day tech support. He was always one call away and you could trust his solutions would be solid. Kenny was very wise and always had good a story to tell; anyone who visited him could sit and talk with him for hours and leave enriched and with delight.

Not only was Kenny handy and smart he was funny and humble, and he loved Serving the Lord. He was an active member of Providence Baptist Church for many years and song in the Male Chorus.

Kenny singing in the church choir comes as no surprise because Kenny LOVED music.

He could never resist singing, dancing, clapping his hands and patting those feet to the sounds of his favorite artist; or any music as long as it had good beat and a melody. He was self-taught to play the guitar. He wrote his own songs and was successful at selling a few of his lyrics. He was even recording an album on which he played every instrument in his basement studio. On Christmas Eve for many years his family and friends would gather around to listen to him play the guitar and perform his own songs.

On February 20, 2024, Kenny was called home to be with his Heavenly Father. He was loved deeply and will be greatly missed.

Kenny leaves behind to mourn and cherish his memory: His beloved wife Diane Smith; son Dana Smith (Monya); daughter Brandi Jones. Grandchildren: Kadyem Clark-Smith (Kyera), Danajsha Smith, Damir Smith, D’miyah Smith, Dayon Smith, Javontae Richardson, Mia Richardson, Antonio Rodgers, Siblings: sisters Josie Clark, Rose Molten, Gloria Smith, Faye Turner (Greg) and a host of nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.