SERVICE INFORMATION:

Don Smiley, 68, of Lincoln, Nebraska, formerly of Coin and Shenandoah, Iowa, passed away Monday, November 18, 2024 at his daughter’s home in Clarinda, Iowa under hospice care. Private graveside services will be held at a later date. Memorials may be directed to Don Smiley Memorial.  Arrangements were entrusted to the Nodaway Valley Funeral Home of Clarinda.

OBITUARY:

Donald Lee Smiley, the son of William Samuel and Marjorie Blanche (Searl) Smiley, was born May 4, 1956, at the Clarinda, Iowa hospital. Don was an identical twin to Dennis Dee Smiley, who appeared first. He died after a brief battle with cancer on November 18, 2024, at the age of 68 years, 6 months and 14 days.

Don was raised in Coin, Iowa and attended school in the South Page School District in Coin and College Springs, Iowa. After he left school, he worked at various jobs. While working on building grain silos, a nail gun he was using misfired, and a piece of a nail entered his left eye. He lost almost all the vision in that eye for the rest of his life. He was taught to weld by Dick Elling and became a highly skilled welder working for a Red Oak, Iowa auto parts plant for thirteen years, then for Featherlight Trailer in Shenandoah, then in Lincoln for Nebraska Boiler and, later for Stevens and Smith Construction Company where his welding skills were again utilized. He had been retired for about a year before his death.

Don married Kathryn Marie Whipp at her parents’ home in College Springs, Iowa though they divorced several years later. He never remarried. Don and Kathy had two children. Gregory Scott Smiley and Mandi Lee Smiley. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Samuel Smiley and Marjorie Blanche (Searl) Smiley, his identical twin, Dennis Dee Smiley, and Kathryn Marie (Whipp) Behrend. He is survived by his brother, William Gene Smiley, his sister, Cheryl Colleen (Smiley) Mankle, his son, Gregory Scott Smiley, his daughter, Mandi Lee (Smiley) Farlin and grandchildren, Samantha Lee Johnson, Chase Ray Hickey, Dylan Scott Smiley, Baylee Moore and Sydney Madison Booth, and by many other relatives and friends.

Don will be cremated. He will be sorely missed by all those who knew and loved him.