Historical Lehi
Stan and Kathy Smith build a legacy of service in Lehi
Nicole Kunze | Lehi Historical Society
Editor’s Note: The Lehi Historical Society is proud to present the stories of its Lehi Heritage Day 2026 honorees. Stan and Kathy Smith are one of seven honoree couples/individuals being featured this year. Each couple/individual will be celebrated at Lehi Heritage Day on Aug. 29, from 2:30-6 p.m., at the Lehi Civic Center at 153 N. 100 East. For more information on Lehi Heritage Day, see lehihistory.org or call 801-768-1570.
For decades, Stanley R. Smith and Katherine Lynn Beck, known to family and friends as Stan and Kathy, have quietly strengthened Lehi through steady service. Their contributions have spanned civic responsibilities, church leadership, youth programs, arts and community events and the everyday work of building neighbors into friends.
Whether mentoring local youth teams, helping guide community boards, supporting city celebrations or serving side-by-side in assignments in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Smiths have approached Lehi as a place to invest in, not simply a place to live.
Stan’s sense of heritage runs deep in Lehi. On his paternal side, he traces ancestry back to Joseph Johnson Smith, among Lehi’s first leaders and settlers in 1851 and the first blacksmith to set up shop for the community.
On his maternal side, his great-grandfather was John Devey, who is described by Lehi historian, Richard Van Wagoner, as a “mechanical genius” and is credited with building the first two-cylinder, internal-combustion engine vehicle in Lehi.
Stan was born in 1945 in the Lehi Hospital to Roosevelt “Rosie” and Ethel Mae Smith. He grew up in Lehi on a second-generation farm and ranch. Stan later recognized those years as training in doing “hard things” without quitting, an inner discipline that served him in education, athletics and life’s inevitable challenges.
At Lehi High School, Stan was involved in sports and student leadership. He served as senior class president and was captain of the football team his senior year.
Stan practiced law full-time from 1977 to 2015. His civic service included roles on Lehi’s Board of Adjustments and as a Lehi Judge pro tem. Beginning in 1997, he served for approximately 10 years on the Central Utah Water Conservancy District Board of Trustees (CUWCD). In 1995, he was appointed to the American Fork Hospital Board of Directors.
Stan served a full-time mission to the Central Atlantic States as a young man and later served in three Lehi bishoprics and as stake president of the Lehi Stake of the LDS Church.
Together, he and Kathy served 21 months as service missionaries. They also served as ordinance workers in the Church’s Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork. After the Saratoga Springs Temple was dedicated, Kathy served as an ordinance worker while Stan was set apart as an assistant temple recorder.
Kathy was born to Bardell and Katherine Beck in 1948 in the Mount Pleasant Hospital in Mount Pleasant. Kathy graduated from Brigham Young University in the summer of 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Her student teaching took place in the fall at Lehi Elementary (4th grade) and at Sego Lily Elementary (kindergarten). In 1971 she chose to focus on raising their family but remained closely involved through the years as a room mother and reading aide at Lehi Elementary. She also served two years on the PTA board.
Kathy’s community service in Lehi included arts, parades and local fundraising. In 1987, Kathy was invited to join the new Lehi Arts Council and served there for two years. In the 1970s and 1980s, she built her ward float and helped with four other floats for the Lehi Round-Up Parade.
The Smiths met on a blind date at BYU and were married in 1969, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Manti Temple. They have five children—Rhett Smith, Shantell Holker, Terra Willes, Jason Smith and Chad Smith. Their family has grown to include 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, with two more great-grandchildren soon to arrive.
In their home life, they have long valued time with family, gatherings for parties, holiday games and family hiking continue to be favorite traditions.
The Smiths’ story is a blend of heritage, hard work, education, faith and service. Their shared service has blessed family, friends and neighbors and their steady presence has become part of the community fabric they have worked so long to strengthen.
