Mark S. Smith, age 57, of Brookings, died suddenly on Wednesday, January 2, 2008, at the Brookings Hospital. Funeral services will be 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, January 8, 2008, at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings, with interment and military rites at Greenwood Cemetery. Visitations will be from 4:00 to 6:30 P.M. Monday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Mark Stephen Smith was born February 7, 1950, at Lake Hendricks, Minnesota, to Charles and Polly (Borstad) Smith. He spent his early childhood years in White, South Dakota, and moved with his parents to Brookings in 1965. He graduated from Brookings High School in 1968 and attended SDSU. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1971 and served on the destroyer escort USS Badger in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. After his discharge from the service he remained in California and worked thirty years with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as steam engineer/power plant supervisor, retiring in 2005. In 2004 Mark married Sandra Frie, and they relocated to Brookings after retirement, to enjoy their wonderful South Dakota roots. Marks passion was for his family of cousins, of which he had 54. He made a point of staying in touch with all of them, locating then, and traveling to visit them. He enjoyed a wonderful relationship with his son, Kevin, and embraced the families of his step-children and grandchildren. The love he gave was returned ten-fold. Mark enjoyed traveling, politics, golf, and community services in California, particularly with the Red Cross blood donation services. Survivors include his wife, Sandra Smith, of Brookings; a son, Kevin (Ashley) Smith of Palm Springs, California; two grandsons; two step-daughters: Nicole (Jim) Gannon and Tami (Dan) Nabors, and four step-grandchildren, all of California. He was preceded in death by his parents. This kindhearted, interesting, fun, and spiritual man will be missed by many.