Cooksville – Virgil Smith, 95, of Cooksville, passed away at 12:06pm, May 10, 2022, at his home surrounded by his family.

His funeral will be held at 11:00am, Friday, May 13, 2022, at Duffy-Pils Memorial Home, Colfax.

Burial will be in Wiley Cemetery, Colfax.

Visitation will be held from 9:30-11:00am, on Friday, also at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to Rockford Park District or Davis Kerber American Legion, Colfax.

Virgil was born December 15, 1926, in Gridley the son of H.A. (Crick) and Nora Cagley Smith.

He married Helen Waldrop on January 30, 1949 and celebrated 73 years together. She survives.

Also surviving are his children, Mark (Brenda) Smith of Rockford, Mindy (Jim) Kaufman of Creston, IA, and Melissa (Scott) Lewis of Bloomington; 10 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and sister, Guylan Simpsen of Bloomington.

He was preceded in death by his parents, son, Mike Smith, three brothers and one sister.

Virgil was a farmer all his life. He farmed in the Cooksville area when they moved from Gridley in 1935, when he was nine years old. You may say it was fate, but we believe it was God's plan to have his family moving to Cooksville and Helen's family moving from Arkansas then from Peoria to the small town of Cooksville where they would meet, fall in love, and marry.

Virgil served in the United States Army from June 1945 to November 1946. Virgil and his son Mark farmed until retiring in 1992. Virgil served on the board of Union Church of Cooksville for more than 45 years and helped in the building of the new church in 1960. He helped in its maintenance and the grounds around it until he and his wife moved to Bloomington in 2004. They still kept attending services there.