Hartford, VT – Vernon Roy Smith, 79, died Monday, September 30, 2019 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.

He was born June 20, 1940 in Charlotte, NC a son of Thomas Vernon and Shirley Mae (Rich) Smith.  Following high school, Vern served in Vietnam with the US Army.  When he returned from his military service, he received training as a plumber and became a master plumber in the Hartford, CT area.  Later he moved to Manchester, VT where he and his business partner started Winslow Plumbing.  Vern moved to Hartford, VT in 1981 where he later met Janet Dube. They were married on June 18, 1988.  Vern owned and operated RCI Mechanical, a plumbing and heating business in the Upper Valley, until 2009 when he retired and the couple moved to Cape Coral, FL.  They returned to the Upper Valley in 2016 as his Parkinson's Disease progressed.

Vern was a quiet and hard-working man with a great love for his family. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He is survived by his wife, Janet Smith, of Hartford, VT; daughters, Melissa Penwarden and her husband John, of Pennsylvania, and Valerie Smith of Ohio; stepson, Bryan Dube, and his wife Becky of Hartford, VT; stepdaughter, Alison Pearson, of Hanover, NH; six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and several nieces and nephews.

A graveside service will be held on Monday, October 7, 2019, at 10:30 AM at the Hartford Cemetery on Route 14 in Hartford, VT . Directly following the service will be a light lunch at the American Legion in Lebanon, NH.

Contributions in his memory may be made to: Hanover Terrace Activities Fund, 45 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755

Condolences to Vern's family may be made in an online guestbook at knightfuneralhomes.com .