Jeffrey Eugene Smith

Jeffrey Eugene Smith 1966 – 2026

A memorial open house is planned for Jeffrey “Chubby” Smith will be May 29 from 6-8 pm at Warren-McElwain Mortuary at 120 W. 13th Street in Lawrence KS. Bring a guitar. The piano is ready.

Jeffrey Eugene Smith was born April 8, 1966, at Shawnee Mission Hospital to Eula and Gene Smith. He and his twin joined three siblings. It was a busy home. As he grew, Jeff read and drew and daydreamed. His sister Karen remembered him as “observant and never in a hurry.” He made good friends, watched Saturday morning cartoons, and liked to see how things worked.

By middle and high school, it was evident that Jeff had a talent for music. He joined the school band, played bari sax, fell hard for the electric guitar, and taught himself to play by listening to his sisters’ records. He played the guitar every day until his hospitalization made it impossible.

Jeff eventually moved from Spring Hill to Lawrence and became a prolific and popular songwriter, musician, and producer beginning in the late 1980s. He also started accumulating nicknames – Chubby, Chub, Chuck. You might have seen him in Big Toe, Chubby Smith and his Orchestra, the Chubby Smith Five, the Lonesome Hobos, and most recently, Flucto. There were many more bands throughout his life. He loved being on stage and being the lead singer and guitarist. But he also loved just making music – on stage, off stage, in a supporting role. All of it was joy. He could play nearly any instrument, sing, compose, record, and perform. He tuned pianos and historic pipe organs and he even had the opportunity to crawl up inside the campanile and record the carillon bells at the University of Kansas.

Jeff listened to music all the time, but he was judicious with the music he wrote and made. He searched for the right words, put them in the exact right order, created just the right rhyme scheme, and built the music around it. Sometimes a catchy line came first; other times it was the sound. There were fan favorites and his favorites – songs to make people dance, to make people laugh, and songs for break ups and make ups. He was a storyteller.

In 2000, Jeff started working at Kansas Public Radio. As an audio engineer, he worked primarily with classical musicians, vocal and instrumental, to record and produce their performances for air. Jeff was known for putting musicians at ease. Aware of their immense talent, he liked to make them laugh, feel comfortable in the performance space, and let them know they could trust him. Jeff would be the first to tell you he didn’t know much about classical music, but he understood music and musicians. He would often record musicians all day and stay up all night producing their audio so that they could hear it the very next day. He wanted them to know how good they sounded. Inspired by performers he met and recorded at the radio station, Jeff also attended student piano recitals and opera productions because he wanted to see them in their element. He hauled gear, set up mics, strung cords, positioned cameras, moved pianos, pushed buttons, and meticulously edited the sound files on his laptop.

Jeff eventually built himself a music studio so that he could make and play music every day for as long and as loud as he wanted. He invited friends and musicians to join him in his space. The studio became a place of creativity, fun, collaboration, and peace. Bands recorded their albums in the studio and Jeff was their producer, carefully making sure the audio matched their vision. He treated every band as if it was his own, and he had a special and longtime affinity with St. Monica’s gospel choir and their ministry of music. Jeff loved it all.

Yet, what Jeff loved most was his wife, Julie Mulvihill. They met in the mid 1990s and married in 1997. A gravitational pull brought them together, kept them together, and their galaxy of love changed and grew over 30 years. He was welcomed into the extended Mulvihill family and became the preferred chauffeur for Julie’s parents, Leo and Jo. He thoughtfully and quietly helped Julie care for her mom when Jo went into a nursing care facility, dropping by to keep her hummingbird feeder full, stopping in to watch Jeopardy together, and enjoying the time when Cindy the miniature horse came to visit dressed all fancy with ribbons and bows. Jeff was gentle and caring and funny. He was one in a million.

Jeff also loved cars, cats, cat memes, and cat videos. He preferred smoke bombs over fireworks. Nighttime over daytime. He liked to fiddle with gadgets. He liked to make jokes. He was not good at small talk. He thought about what he would say before saying it. He brought home treasures found by the side of the road. He rarely passed a thrift store without stopping. He was never without a guitar. All stray cats were welcomed and fed, no questions asked. Frank the cat was his soulmate. Jeff loved big and was loved in return.

In September 2025, Jeff was diagnosed with incurable lung disease, and it progressed rapidly. He kept on playing, recording, and producing music right up until his death on May 12, 2026 at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, KS.

In addition to Julie, Jeff is survived by four siblings: Karen (John) Ross, Kathryn Smith, David (Cescilie) Smith, and Jennifer (Marty) Landreth and their children. He was preceded in death by his parents Gene and Eula Smith. Jeff also leaves behind his music, hundreds of original songs, Julie’s family, and his many friends that he loved and respected. Jeff was an organ donor, and this last act was one of pure love and kindness that will save many lives. And as Jeff would often write as he signed off on his funny and charming Facebook stories, “All for now.”

Memorial contributions in Jeff’s name may be given to Kansas Public Radio (KPR) or Humanities Kansas (HK).