Jonathan Bryan Smith

Chester Jonathan Bryan Smith, 46, went home for a grand reunion Sunday, March 4, 2018, at Whitten Center in Clinton. Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM Friday, March 9, 2018, atFirst Free Will Baptist Churchwith Rev. Ralph Byars, Rev. Brian Howard, Rev. James Sanders and Rev. David Trull officiating. Interment will follow in Chester Memorial Gardens.The family will receive friends from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Thursday, March 8,at First Free Will Baptist Church. Mr. Smith was born February 21, 1972 in Chester, SC and was a son of Mary Anne Trull Smith and the lateRev. John B. Smith. For two or three years Jonathan participatedin C.T.S. with the Freewill Baptist denomination. He had just made Spring Little League Baseball team with Tommy Jordan and Eddie Dunn as his coach when he got sick with a high fever and it was determined to be encephalitis. Jonathan has been residing at Whitten Center in Clinton for around 30 years. Everyone who knew Jonathan loved him and will miss him dearly. Even as a child he was a devoted SC Gamecock and Atlanta Braves fan. When he was learning to talk for the second time and while watching the Atlanta Braves play he termed the phrase “Hit that Ball, Royster” because he heard his father say it many times. Jonathan wanted to be a preacher like his father, Rev. J.B. Smith. Even after Jonathan became sick along with learning to talk again he had to learn to walk again. He was able to sit down at the piano and play a few songs he had learned. He also was able to do math facts before you could solve the problem on paper. Jonathan loved to work puzzles and enjoyed Easter and finding eggs. His mother’s voice was music to his ears and always lifted his spirit. Jonathan won the hearts of the people of Chester and he was their local hero. His childhood friends, Joseph Copeland and Angie Lawson were among many whom Jonathan loved and appreciated . He remembered by name those he loved and that brightened his life. Jonathan was a member of First Free Will Baptist Church. He is survived by his mother Mary Anne Trull Smith; three sisters, Sharon Smith of Chester, Sandra Smith Haynes (Curtis) of Greenville, NC and Sonya Smith Thomas (Steve) of Bentonville, AR; two brothers, Gary Bennett Smith, Sr. (Missy) of Chester and Rick Shelton (Libbie) of Waynesville, NC; and numerous nieces and nephews and also great nieces and nephews.Jonathan was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Franklin and Annie Mae Smith and maternal grandparents, Rev. Clarence and Thelma Lee Trull Memorials may be made to First Freewill Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1656, Chester, SC29706 or to First Church of the Nazarene, 182 Pinckney St.,Chester, SC 29706. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.barronfuneralhome.com