Ernest Boyd Smith, 90, died Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at Rhea Medical Center.

A lifetime resident of Spring City, Boyd was the son of the late Joseph Henry and Lulu Lee Watson Smith. He was a veteran of the United States Army. After leaving his military service, Boyd was a mechanic and eventually owned his own garage. He began working at Vaughn Funeral Home in 1960 and retired in 2006. Boyd was the also the caretaker of the Spring City Cemetery hand digging hundreds of graves. He loved to hunt, fish and play the banjo.

Boyd was preceded in death by his brothers Oliver, Owen "Coxey" and Joseph Leonard Smith and sister Fay Styf.

Survivors include his wife Lucy Gideon Smith of Spring City, sons Delbert (Donna) Smith of Grandview and Donald Smith of Spring City, brothers Paul Smith of Dayton and Max (Mary) Smith of Spring City, sisters Christine McCabe and Maxine Gaines both of Spring City, Juanita (Bob) Ballard of Grand Haven, Michigan, Paula (Jim) Bowman of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Lula (Bill) Manchester of Augusta, Georgia, two grandchildren and one great grandchild.

A graveside service will be held on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 3:00 pm at the Spring City Cemetery with Rev. Mike Grace officiating. There will be no visitation.

Vaughn Funeral Home, Spring City is in charge of arrangements. Please share your condolences and memories of Boyd on our website www.vaughn-funeral-home.com