Dr. Bill Stacy walked slowly toward one of the Long Branch Residential Preserve's vast, communal lawns Tuesday afternoon.
Perched near Lookout Mountain's crown, Long Branch was the idyllic childhood home of Kelly Bennett Smith, a private development filled with horse pastures, rustic retreats, glistening ponds, endless nature. It was also where his family and friends gathered to bid their 26-year-old "brother-son-friend-artist-lover" - as oldest brother Kyle called him - as fond a farewell as possible for someone lost far too young.
Kelly Bennett Smith"Dads get buried by sons," Stacy said softly. "They aren't supposed to bury sons."
Yet after a gripping bagpipe recital, there stepped Dr. Bill Moore Smith - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga Lookouts team doctor, champion of revised concussion protocol, devoted husband to Chrissie and father to five sons and daughter Kadie Ann - leading his family to their seats for an event no parent ever wants to attend.
"Let's get out there and enjoy some sunshine," the doctor reportedly told his family before the service, and they certainly tried as they remembered Kelly, a 2008 Baylor School grad and the youngest of the brothers.
Kip, an aspiring songwriter in Nashville, sang his tribute after telling a massive gathering approaching 1,000, "I needed to finish this this morning, and he finished it for me."
Then, as he played his guitar, Kip perfectly carried his tune, including the cathartic chorus: "Brother, you will always be my favorite song to sing."
Brother Karter recalled watching Kelly battle a tarpon for more than 90 minutes in the Gulf of Mexico with the patience and skill of the expert fly fisherman he was. He spoke of Kelly encouraging everyone to "find your passion. Then pursue it with grace, compassion, love and understanding."
Kurt Smith joked of his brother's attraction to hair product. Of Kelly's unique skills to both start fires and gather wood during Christmas gatherings at Long Branch. Of his love for dogs, especially Calloway. Of his magical touch with a video camera, which had become his profession.
"A comedy," Kurt said of a production he had hoped to stage with his brother, a project now silenced by Kelly's drowning Friday in Oregon after being knocked into a violent ocean by a rogue wave.
"It might be my only regret about my brother. We won't get to make that movie. Kelly was the best of us; he always looked for ways to get better and be better."
Added oldest brother Kyle as he referred to his youngest brother's flair with film: "All (Kelly) wants is to show everyone a perfect version of the world."
It has been a perfectly awful year for Baylor School regarding loved ones lost. The philanthropic giant Scotty Probasco passed away 368 days ago today. A little more than a month after that, longtime Red Raiders golf coach King Oehmig died. As if that wasn't enough grief to bear, the Baylor student body has lost two of its own this school year: Sumner Smith (no relation to Kelly) and August Weidlich.
Now Smith, who keyed the Red Raiders' run to the 2008 state soccer title, joins them.
"I told our kids that some parts of life are tragic," said Baylor headmaster Scott Wilson. "But Baylor's a special place and we need to be a special family this year for each other."
Stacy was the school's headmaster when Kelly Smith roamed the massive campus's classic brick buildings and shaded sidewalks as he dominated its athletic fields.
"Kelly could do a lot of things well," Stacy said. "But he put us back on the map in soccer."
Baylor soccer coach Curtis Blair was an assistant on that title team. He recalled how Smith always took the free kicks, and until the state championship game always sailed them harmlessly over the goal.
"I think the only one he put right on the frame all year, just the perfect strike, was in that championship game," Blair said. "It came perfectly off the frame and Carter Paden kicked it in for a goal. But that was Kelly. He was always at his best when it mattered most."
Danny Vanvalkinburgh and Chris Wilson also were on that team. Vanvalkinburgh remembered how Kelly would always tape his wrists before games and write something inspirational on them.
"He enjoyed (the game) and he wanted to make sure everyone else enjoyed it, too," said the Mercer grad.
"He always made you feel like the most important person in the room," Wilson added. "You might not have seen Kelly for 10 years or 10 days, but it seemed like your conversation was picking up right where it left off."
Smith had gone to Oregon on a film job. He was scheduled to fly home before the weekend was out. All he wanted was one glimpse of the ocean, one last visual memory before heading back to Georgia.
After all, as brother Kurt observed, "Kelly always had the most fun when he was exposed to something new. He lit up at those moments. A favorite Kellyism: Never stop going west."
But the wretched wave surprised him from behind - "sneaker" waves they call them, because they're undetectable until it's too late - and threw him into an angry sea. Repeated attempts to save Smith failed.
Said longtime family friend, Long Branch developer and fellow fly fisherman Chris Moore: "All my family feels like they've lost a brother."
Added Kyle Smith, his voice cracking, his words surely echoed by all who knew and loved his baby brother: "God wanted Kelly. He was ready. We were not."
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.