Michael Lee Smith

Glendive, Montana: Michael Lee Smith returned home to our Father in Heaven on Thursday, April 4, 2013. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with Bishop Armondo Murato officiating. Interment will be held on the family property in Glendive. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive has been entrusted with the arrangements. Mike was born October 24, 1957 to Gordon and Glane Smith in Bryan, Texas. When Mike was thirteen years old his family moved to Whitefish, Montana. Even though Mike was fourth generation Texan he always referred to Whitefish as his hometown. Mike graduated from Whitefish High School with the class of 1976. He was captain of the football team and liked to tell his children he was known as Dyno-Mike. Shortly after graduation Mike served a two year mission for the L.D.S. Church in Virginia. Upon his return home he met and married Kari Lynn Hawkinson and they were married in the Logan, Utah temple on June 27, 1981. They are the parents of eight children, two sons, and six daughters. Mike was thrilled to add a son-in-law and two daughters-in-law whom he considered his own. His joy grew even greater as he welcomed seven grandchildren in the past four years. He was their best friend and loved feeding them whipped topping from an aerosol can. After their wedding Mike and Kari moved back to Bryan, Texas for two years while Mike was employed in the oil field business. When the oil boom there dwindled Mike changed career paths and moved to Gallatin Gateway, Montana and began his twenty-six year employment with Plum Creek Timber. After the first three years he had the opportunity to transfer to the Ksanka mill, so Mike moved his young family to Eureka, Montana where they would spend the next twenty-five years, loving every minute of it. While raising his large family Mike managed to serve his church and community. He would serve as a branch president for twelve years- and loved the latter day saints there with his whole heart. When his two boys were young and started to play T-Ball Mike discovered he had a passion for baseball; although some might refer to it as an obsession. He wasn’t happy sitting in the bleachers, he had to coach. Through those years of coaching Mike knew most of the boys in the Eureka community. He loved them and that affection was returned. Those boys, some now men with boys of their own, were fondly remembered by Mike as he recounted games and plays from ten years or more ago as if they had happened yesterday. When Plum Creek decided to close the Ksanka mill and Mike had to find new employment he decided to open a carpet cleaning/ janitorial business called Crystal Clean. He did this with the intent of leaving Eureka and heading east of the mountains, Mike arrived in the Glendive area about four years ago. Mike fell in love with the people of Eastern Montana and quickly made friends here. He loved the beautiful scenery of the badlands. Since moving here all of Mike’s adult children have found their way here as well. Mike felt blessed to have all of his children around him and looked forward to coaching another generation. To sum up the life of this man in a paragraph or two seems an impossible task as his life was full of joy, pain, trials, and triumphs, but most of all love. He was a simple man who delighted in such things as sunsets and geese flying overhead. He loved taking in the beauty of nature and was often found in the midst of it hiking. Mike found great joy in every day and was well known for his big smile and happy personality. He felt he lived a blessed life. After enjoying even the very simplest of pleasures of life he would often remark “I live like a king!

Michael Lee Smith

October 24, 1957 - April 10, 2013

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Michael Lee Smith

October 24, 1957 - April 10, 2013

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

Plan Ahead

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

Contact Information

365 Days of Grief Support