Dallas Smith

Dallas Smith, 94, of Cut Bank, Montana, passed away July 28, 2014 of natural causes.  The funeral service will be held at the Cut Bank Presbyterian Church, August 4, 2014 at 11:00 a.m., with reception immediately after.  Burial will follow the reception at Crown Hill Cemetery in Cut Bank.  Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Whitted Funeral Chapel of Shelby, MT.

Dallas was born in Forbes, North Dakota, July 7, 1920.  He graduated from Forbes High School and continued on for one year of college in Ellendale, North Dakota.  Dad grew up in the midst of the depression in North Dakota.  Although he had limited formal education, he self-educated using home correspondence courses, which were popular at the time.  In particular, he was interested in the “birthing years” of electronics, primarily radio communications.  This self-education in radio allowed him to obtain early employment with radio stations and he remembered helping make a phonograph record of FDR’s speech following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Dad gained employment with Northwest Airlines, and was sent to Miles City, Montana, as a radio operator.  It was there that he met our Mom, Jessie Hagen (who preceded him in death), and they were married November 26, 1942.  The airlines were considered by the military to be an essential industry, and as such, Dad was frozen in the job for the duration of World War II.

Following World War II, Dad began building houses in Miles City, eventually quitting Northwest Airlines and making this his full time job.  Mom and Dad moved to Rapid City, South Dakota in 1953, where Dad became a well recognized building contractor.  He built the Better Homes and Gardens “House of the Year” in 1956.  A recession, along with significant cutbacks at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, prompted them to move to Cut Bank, Montana, where they spent the balance of their lives.  Dad continued his construction business in Cut Bank (after an initial short employment with the Federal Aviation Administration), growing it into a successful business.  One project was building the St. Mary-Glacier Park KOA Kampground, in 1967, as a contractor for the owner.  A few years later, Dad purchased the St. Mary-Glacier Park KOA Kampground – entering into the KOA camping business concurrent with his construction career.  After running both businesses for a few years, he and Mom decided to exit the construction business to focus full time on the KOA Kampground.  They sold their Kampground in 1984, basically retiring.  Throughout retirement, they travelled extensively, with favorite trips up into northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Mom and Dad became involved in square dancing while still in Miles City, and this was a mutual love for more than 30 years.  Dad became an accomplished square dance Caller, as he had a fabulous singing voice.  Often, at a restaurant in Cut Bank or Valier, someone associated with square dancing would come up and reminisce.  In his latter years, dad took up oil painting (a talent his father also possessed), painting landscape scenes of the Cut Bank and St. Mary region.

Dad led an amazing and full life alongside our Mother, Jessie.  At one point they had a Miniature Golf Course in Cut Bank, and installed at the bowling alley, the first Foosball tables in Montana.  This is just a small example of the hundreds of things he was involved in.

Dad’s passing was short and without pain.  He touched and changed the lives of many people.  He will be sorely missed and remembered forever by all who knew and loved him.  He was truly blessed by God.

Dallas is survived by his four children: Loren Smith (Great Falls, MT), Layla Bockhorst (Larkspur, CA), Kim Smith (Helena, MT) and Robyn Armstrong (Helena, MT), the following grandchildren: Brad Smith (Helena), Kris Smith (Helena), Andrew Smith (Helena), Dallas Smith (Houston, TX), Jena Smith (Helena), Sara Bockhorst (Larkspur, CA), Ross Andre (Atlanta, GA), Lara Andre (Missoula, MT), and one great-grandchild: Eastin Smith (Helena).