Clarence Charles Smith Jr., 88, of Cromwell, Minnesota passed away Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 in Cardinal Courts in Cromwell.

He was born May 7, 1931 in Mt. Vernon Township, Minnesota, the youngest of 11 children born to Clarence and Ina Smith. The family moved to Cromwell in 1940, where he lived the rest of his life. Clarence married Ruth Maki Jan. 20, 1951 and together they raised eight children on their dairy farm. He was also an electrician at Conwed/USG for 44 years. He loved high school sports and spent many years attending his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s functions. Clarence served on the Cromwell school board for nine years, and also on the Cromwell Credit Union and the Cromwell Creamery boards. He was a member of the Apostolic Lutheran Church in Kettle River.

Clarence was preceded in death by his special great-grandson, Kaleb Anderson; sisters Dora Heaser, Hazel Line, Geraldine Kurkinen, Marjorie Ihrke, Eileen Walters and Delores Kisler; and brothers Garld, Erwin and Donald.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ruth; children Dick (Terry), Lee Ann (Guy) Anderson, Bill (Kay) and Peter (Shawna), all of Cromwell, Betsy Smith of Cloquet, Nancy (Dick) Korbi of Esko, Pauly (Bucky) Granholm of Kettle River and Dale (Tammi) of Mansfield, Texas; brother Eugene (Pat) Smith of Cloquet; and 27 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren.

Visitation: 5-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 and 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. memorial service Saturday, Oct. 19, all in the Atkins Northland Funeral Home, Cloquet, followed by lunch in the Fireside Room. Inurnment will be in Eagle Lake Cemetery. To sign the guest book and offer an online tribute, see http://www.atkinsnorthlandfuneralhome.com.