In Memory of Paul “Lenny” Smith

Friday June 6th, 2025 our family’s world came crashing down. Our husband, father and grandfather Paul Leonard Smith, known mostly as Lenny, gained his wings.

Most know the last almost 24 years have been nothing but an uphill battle for him. He has been on and off the transplant list since 2001. In 2001 he was diagnosed with Progressive idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, along with a slew of secondary diseases. He was given 6 months to live then and managed to defy all odds.

Numerous procedures, implants, surgeries, hospital stays, transfusions, strokes, heart attacks, defied them all. Countless times over the last 24 years he was given “months to live” but kept fighting. He was known for having ejection fractions in the low teens and even single digits, but would still be out doing yard work. That man loved his yard.

In the last 2 years alone, he suffered one moderate stroke, several mini strokes and one massive stroke, kidney failure, along with arrhythmia events and even a massive heart attack that caused him to code following his last stroke. But he still kept fighting.

His most recent stroke Feb 22,2025, changed his world forever. The last four months was the hardest any of us have ever seen him fight. He initially had lost about 90% of his speech, majority of motor control as well as memory and cognition. In a matter of weeks we saw massive improvements and he kept pushing telling all of us countless times “I’ll get there, one day at a time”. But that day never came, his heart was worn out and his fight was gone.

Lenny was notorious for making his mark and his presence known. He was the most selfless individual most all of us had ever known. No matter how bad he felt, how bad the situation or how much strain it put on himself, he was there, no matter the challenge. Every person he encountered, whether a stranger or someone he saw on the daily, he made impression, an impact. From his sense of humor (which most of us knew was generally dark and off the wall), to his love for music and muscle cars, it will all be missed. The most talented drummer. The most knowledgeable mechanic. The greatest father and incredible husband.

Though his illnesses were well known, everyone always assumed with his fight, he was always coming back home, so this came unexpected.

We are making this GoFundMe as a way to lessen the financial strain this has put on our mother Valentine as she navigates grief and learns a new way of living without the only thing she’s ever known. She didn’t just lose her husband, she lost her best friend of 40 years, the father of her children and the grandfather of her grandchildren. We are so blessed for the love and support we have received in this trying time as our family begins to navigate this. The love has been overwhelming and we thank you all for that. This is not goodbye from him, it’s see you later.

We will keep updated as funeral home arrangements are made. We can’t thank you enough for your support.