Kimball "Doyle" Smith

Kimball “Doyle” Smith, 88, of Lawton, Iowa passed away on Friday, February 10, 2017 at a Sioux City

hospital after a short illness.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Morningside Lutheran Church.

Burial will be in Banner Township Cemetery in Lawton.  Visitation will be

Wednesday, February 15, 2017, from 4-8 p.m. at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel, with the family present from 6-8 p.m. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Doyle was born February 25, 1928 on his grandparent’s farm in Belden, Nebraska. He was the son of Kimball S. and Bertha (Clausen) Smith.  Doyle attended his first three years of country school in Warham, Nebraska. In 1936, Doyle’s family moved to Magnet, Nebraska, and he attended school there until 1944 when the family moved to Iowa.   Doyle graduated from Onawa High School in 1945.

On April 9, 1950 Doyle married Virginia Olson in Lawton, Iowa. He began farming that year and started

feeding cattle in 1958. Doyle bought his first farm in 1965 with the help of a landlord.  He was active in managing the farming operation until his retirement in 2015, after 66 years of farming.

Doyle’s love of farming centered around feeding cattle and his cow-calf operation.

Doyle was ahead of his time with new concepts such as 20” rows in 1966. He was the first in the area to have a cab on a tractor. He also was one of the first in this area to convert to the practice of minimum tillage.  

In 1967 he was featured in Successful Farming magazine as a corn growing innovator. Doyle won several corn growing yield contests.

Doyle coached baseball for minors, majors, and midgets in Lawton for 16 years and for the Legion baseball team in Mapleton, Iowa, for two years. While coaching majors, his team won third place in the state tournament in 1971 and won the state championship in 1972.    In 1973 the midget team finished as the state champions and 1974 ended up third in the state tournament.

Doyle was a member of Morningside Lutheran Church.

Survivors include his wife, Virginia, of Lawton; his children: Gary Smith and his wife Kathy of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Valerie Unkrich and her husband Stan of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Gregory Smith and his wife Deborah of Jefferson, South Dakota.   Three sisters: Beverly Price of Scottsdale, Arizona, Marilyn Marx of Seattle, Washington, and Lea Rae ( John )  Petrikas of Sanibel, Florida.   Eight grandchildren:  Sarah Craft (Matt), Ryan Smith, Lindsay Gallo (Jon), Brendan Unkrich (Brandelle), Angela Ribeiro (Alfonso), Tyson Unkrich, Michael Smith, and Matthew Smith: nine great-grandchildern.

Doyle was preceded in death by his parents, Kimball and Bertha Smith, two brothers-in-law, and a niece.