John W. Smith

John Wilson Smith, 80, of the Heritage of Green Hills and formerly of Whitfield, died Saturday, June 6th in Green Hills Manor after a two month battle with kidney cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Jean A. (Longenecker) Smith.

Born in Pottsville, he was the son of the late John W. Smith and Hannah M. (Morris) Smith.

He was employed by the Reading Eagle Company for 45 years, retiring in 2003. He continued to work part-time as a religion columnist until March of 2015. He began his career at the Reading Eagle at the sports desk and worked there for 24 years until he moved to the general news desk. At the time of his retirement, John was the chief of copy desk and the religion editor. During his retirement, John served as an adjunct professor at Eastern University for four years. He also taught at Alvernia University Seniors College.

John was a 1953 graduate of the former St. Clair High School, Pottsville, and was valedictorian, class president, and class reunion chairman. John graduated magna cum laude from Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, in 1957 with a bachelor's degree in history and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. He received his master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, in 1959.

John dedicated many hours to his family, church, academics and sports throughout his lifetime, starting as a youth camp director following college. He served on the Berks County Library Board for 12 years, most recently as the secretary and treasurer. He was a longtime member of the Religion Newswriters Association in Columbia, Missouri, and worked on several projects for the organization.

A member of First Baptist Church, Reading, John was an adult Sunday school teacher for over 50 years and served several terms as a deacon. He was the president of the American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware from 2004-2007. He was known to many at First Baptist as "Jack."

John was also the commissioner of Western Berks Junior Baseball League for 22 years and was the chairman of the Reading Phillies Hall of Fame Committee for over 15 years. He served as statistician of the 135-member Eastern Pennsylvania Football Conference since 1981 and held a 50-year card for officiating high school sports. John was a member of the American Legion Sports Hall of Fame.

John and his wife, Jean, enjoyed traveling, especially riverboat cruises in Europe and the U.S.

He is also survived by his son, Jeffrey W. Smith, husband of Cathy Smith, Macedonia, OH, and two daughters, Jennifer L. Smith of Harrisburg, PA, and Jodi A. Smith, wife of Roberto Ortiz, Arlington, VA. There are also three grandchildren, Grace and Patrick Smith, and Jonathan Ortiz.

Friends may call on Sunday evening, June 14th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., 739 Penn Avenue, West Reading. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m on Monday June 15, 2015 at First Baptist Church, 210 S. Fifth Street, Reading. There will be a viewing at the church one hour prior to the service. Interment will be private at Memory Gardens, Ephrata.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to First Baptist Church Endowment Fund, 210 S. Fifth Street, Reading, PA 19602.

Online condolences may be made at www.kuhnfuneralhome.com.