Centerville parade honors 2 veterans

Two Wayne County veterans are being honored at this year’s parade taking place on Saturday, May 16, which is Armed Forces Day.

Kelly Smoker said he was surprised to be chosen as the parade’s grand marshal, especially because he was drafted into the Army and had a short military career because he knew he had a job when he returned home.

Smoker lived for more than 60 years on his family’s farm in Abington, and now has a Richmond address.

In 1971, he went through basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, followed by Advanced Individual Training at Fort Polk in Louisiana before spending about six months in Vietnam. He drove armed personnel carriers there, and in his last month in Asia, he was a tank mechanic.

Smoker finished his military career with the Big Red One in Fort Riley, Kansas, and two months in Stuttgart, Germany. He reached the rank of Specialist 4th Class.

Before retiring, Smoker worked for more than 48 years at what was known as Benson Equipment and then New Holland, where he spent 20 years as a mechanic and 28 years as parts manager.

He started working there his senior year of high school and was told they’d hold his job during his service. He gave the company 46 more years.

When the Army learned he already had skills in truck driving and parts management, they used those skills, so he ended up in the mechanized infantry rather than having to walk a lot in Vietnam, he said. And, he was able to use skills he’d learned in the Army for his job when he returned.

Smoker is a lifetime Veterans of Foreign Wars member and also belongs to the American Legion in Richmond.

He’s been married nearly 47 years to Roberta. They have three sons, Pat, director of Richmond Sanitary District; Ben, who drives a school bus and operates Twin Cedars Landscaping, for which Kelly drives a dump truck; and Bradley, a police officer at Indiana University East. They also have six grandchildren in Centerville schools, and Kelly said he attends many Centerville sporting events.

In addition, the late Ron Weadick of Richmond was chosen as the honoree grand marshal, and his wife, Sandy, will ride in the parade.

Ron died in July 2025 at age 78. He served in the Army from 1967-69 and was a Vietnam veteran.

He retired from Verizon and served as the county’s veterans service officer before retiring from that role in 2024. He helped organize the annual veterans parade in Richmond and was a member of VFW Post 1108 and American Legion Post 65.

“He was always involved in something,” Sandy said.

Volunteers welcome all area veterans to participate in the parade, which will be offered at 6 p.m. May 16 in downtown Centerville, and the public is encouraged to attend at no charge.

The event is organized by a group of volunteers through the Centerville Loves Our Veterans initiative, also called Operation C-LOV.