Obituaries

Wayne R. Smith III passed away in the early hours of Monday, November 3, 2025. He was 79 years old. He enjoyed 61 years of marriage with his adoring wife, Jill (Jillette). They were high school sweethearts when they were married in October 1964 and shared a truly wonderful life together ever since.

The first son of Wayne R. Smith II (1917-1993) and Virginia (Summa) Smith (1922-2023), he was a consistent source of pride and joy to his parents, and the epitome of a big brother to his two siblings Rexford (Rex) and Victor (Vic), who idolized their older brother and loved him very much.

Wayne was an exceptional student and athlete and graduated Pattonville High School near St. Louis, MO in 1964, after which he went on to attend the prestigious Northwestern University in Evanston, IL on a full academic scholarship. He graduated with a B.A. degree in 1968 all while working and raising a child during the tumultuous 1960s. Thanks to his ambition and considerable intelligence he continued at Northwestern and was conferred a Master of Science Degree.

He was a pioneer in the computer software industry during that time even creating a computerized database that was implemented and used by the Admissions department at Northwestern. His first career was with Applied Information Development Systems in the Chicago area, and he moved his young family to start their lives in a modest suburban house in Hanover Park, IL in the early 1970s. It was there that Wayne and Jill met some of their best and life-long friends. In 1988, Wayne and Jill moved to Elburn, IL where they built Smithhold – a beautiful brick house styled in the Victorian fashion that immediately became the center of all
family fun and holiday celebrations, even hosting the wedding of his first son the following year.

Wayne excelled in everything he did including business, achieving much and never being satisfied. He was integral in the growth and success of the companies he worked for and in the 1990’s served several years as Senior Vice President of the CNA Insurance Companies in downtown Chicago. Given his entrepreneurial spirit he eventually started his own consultancy company with a partner, iTest Quality Partners, and after several more years went into semi-retirement.

His passions were writing software, creating databases, and developing new and better ways to solve problems. He developed Failure Analysis tools that were used by a large defense contractor for uncovering the root-cause of flight failures. He loved going to St. Louis Cardinals baseball games with his sons and brothers were he manually kept score, just like his father showed him when he was younger. Wayne was always there to help his friends and family in any way he could.

He will be dearly missed by his loving wife and two children, Wayne R. Smith IV and Christopher Smith. He genuinely loved his two daughters-in-law, Cathy (Wayne) and Jennifer (Chris), as if they were his own kids. He was a huge part in the lives of his five grandchildren, Wayne R. Smith V, Allicyn Woodrich, and Emma Smith (Wayne & Cathy), and Taylor Smith and Will Smith (Chris and Jen). He also was able to enjoy his four great grandchildren Wayne R. Smith VI and Isla Smith (Wayne and Anne) and CJ Smith and Ashton Woodrich (Allicyn and Alex).

Wayne R. Smith III leaves behind a legacy of love, fulfillment, and laughter. He influenced the lives of many and the many were better for it. He lived his life with no regrets and lived it well. He was one of the best and his memory will be cherished by all who were lucky enough to know him.

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