Joshua Smelser

The world tragically lost another gentle, kind, and caring soul when Joshua James Smelser had his life stolen by a senseless act of gun violence during a robbery at his Detroit home, on Sept. 5, 2020.
He is survived by Susan Smelser (mother), Steven Smelser (father), and Sarah Smelser Simmons (sister) along with a number of aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends, all of whom are devastated by his life taken from him too early at the age of 39. Joshua was a loving son, brother, and pet parent. He had a passion for all living things and was dedicated to helping everyone that he met. Those who had the opportunity to truly know Joshua were blessed to call him a friend and a person you could count on no matter what.

Although he had only lived in Detroit for nine months, Joshua - who was born and raised in Pompano Beach, FL, had numerous friends throughout the world. He previously lived in the Portland, Los Angeles areas, and Powder Springs, outside of Atlanta, where he attended high school.
He worked in multiple roles within health care, most recently at the Henry Ford Health System, where co-workers were devastated by the news.
His passion for music led to extensive videography, photography, and social media work with a number of musical bands and artists such as Squirrel Nut Zippers, Lili Haydn, Andrew Bird, Nikka Costa, and the Dresden Dolls. He had a large YouTube following as well as numerous followers on Instagram and Twitter. He was an avid lover of furry animals and animal advocacy. People knew him as Otterfreak because of his love of otters, which inspired him to travel the world from Scotland to Peru to see different species of the aquatic mammals. As the pictures reveal, he was as close to bliss as possible when he was with his beloved creatures.
His outgoing manner and kindness made him many long-term friends and his Facebook page was flooded with posts from friends and family - stunned at the loss of such a gentle man - as word spread of his tragedy.

A brief news story about his life and death - along with photos – can be found at https://bit.ly/2FvDGgg

A GoFundMe page has been established to help with expenses and establish scholarships to continue his legacy to advance animal shelters and rescues and to support Joshua's other passion of helping new artists entering the music business. It can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-honor-of-josh-smelser
Please send to ( https://fb.me/e/ILruV7IZ ) any pictures, special messages, quotes or other Joshua stories to share at his Celebration of Life service being held at Thurman Springs Park & Ampitheather located at 4485 Pineview Drive Powder Springs, GA 30127 on May 29th at 2 pm , in observance of World Otter Day and week. Please RSVP with "going" only if you are attending in person at this https://fb.me/e/ILruV7IZ . Interested is meant for viewing online only, if possible.

Please keep Joshua and his family in your hearts as we learn to live without him on this earth.

Please send via message or email Otterfreaksangelfund@gmail.com

Of course keep Joshua in your heart, share his memorial giving page https://www.facebook.com/Otterfreaksangelfund and hope justice will find a way to take care of anyone who brought him harm.