Chief Paul Smith, 60, of Pentwater, passed away Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at his home. He was born January 2, 1961, in Flint, the son of Charles and Edrid Diane (Peterson) Smith.

He began firefighting on Pentwater Fire Department in the fall of 2002 and worked his way up the ranks over the years. In 2006, he was promoted to Lieutenant and, following the line-of-duty death of Captain John Sayles in 2012, Chief Smith was promoted to Captain. In 2014, he was the Assistant Fire Chief until the retirement of longtime Fire Chief Terry Cluchey in 2018. Chief Smith had served as Fire Chief of Pentwater Fire Department since April of 2018. Over the years, he had also served the Department as caretaker and dive team leader.

Chief Smith will be remembered by his fire department brothers as someone that loved the camaraderie of firefighting. He loved serving his community as much as he loved aggressive interior attack inside structure fires. Chief Smith was a builder whose knowledge of construction aided in extinguishing building fires.

Chief Smith leaves behind his wife, Karen Smith; children, Kelly (Mike) Tobias, Julie (Adolf) Smith, Tim (Yessenia) Watkins, Ben (Chrystal) Watkins, and Andy (Martha) Watkins; grandchildren, Christian, Lily, Grant, Greenlee, Sullivan, Emeri, Aiden, and Ryan; father, Charles Smith; sister, Nicole (Neil) Holladay; and many nieces , nephews, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Edrid Diane Smith.

Memorial services will be conducted at 2:00 PM, Sunday, November 21, 2021, at Pentwater Public Schools, 600 East Park Street, Pentwater, MI 49449. Interment will follow at Pentwater Township Cemetery.

Beacon Cremation and Funeral Service, King-Hart Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

www.beaconfh.com