This story is published and shared courtesy of the Callaway Courier
A person’s 100th birthday is cause for a special celebration, and that is exactly what Bobbie Smith got! It was a day filled with the people and things he loves most – family, friends…and Corvettes.
Bobbie Smith was born on a farm on Garfield Table near Arnold in Custer County in 1923, the second of four children to Mynor and Cecil Smith. He has spent his entire life farming and pursuing his love of speed and cars.
He attended country school on the Garfield Table through 10th grade and finished high school in Arnold.
“I was drafted, but was deferred to stay on the family farm,” Smith recalled as we spoke the day after his big 100th birthday party.
On Sunday, Sept. 24, members of the Archway Corvette Club of Kearney converged on Smith’s new home at Stone Hearth Estates in Gothenburg to wish him a happy birthday. Dozens of Corvettes filled the parking lot and Smith was presented with a lifetime membership to the Archway Corvette Club.
Over the years, Smith has owned three Corvettes and still has one. He was one of the charter members of the Sandhills Open Road Challenge, and at age 93 he was clocked at 138.9 mph in his ‘Vette in the SORC One-Mile Shootout.
“Whenever they started producing them,” Smith answered when asked when he first became interested in Corvettes. “They had the speed I wanted.”
Smith said “it was real exciting” having all of the cars and people come to Stone Hearth on Sunday. “I was proud to have them here. I’ve known a lot of those guys for a long time.”
In his lifetime Smith has seen a lot of changes, especially in his world of farming. “Machinery and the size of the equipment has changed a lot,” he said. The farm remains in the family and Smith said he really misses being on the farm.
He recalled meeting his wife, Gloria, at a dance in Stapleton. They were married in 1946 and together raised two children on the farm, Robbi and Karen. They lost their daughter in 1989 to cancer, and 10 years later Bobbie lost his beloved Gloria, also to cancer.
His face lit up with a smile when asked about all the people and cars who came to wish him a happy birthday. “I just had visitors and visitors. But I enjoyed them all,” he quipped. “And I ate some cake,” he added with a chuckle.
When asked what he would like people to know about Bobbie Smith, he paused before answering. “I believe in God and trust in Him. That’s about as good as it gets I guess.”
