Clifford A. 'Smokey' Metcalf, 91

Clifford A. “Smokey” Metcalf, 91, died peacefully after a brief battle with cancer, in Kalispell on Nov. 28, 2011.

Smokey was born Jan. 27, 1920, in Colfax, Wash., to Carl Frank and Cyrena Mae (Baldwin) Metcalf. He was the eldest of six children. Smokey was raised and attended school in Libby.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. He was in the Artillery Division, proudly serving in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. He was honorably discharged in 1945, returning to the family home.

He worked for the Whitefish Creamery where he met his future wife, Isabell Murdock, whom he married in 1947. They had two children.

Smokey worked for the Ford garage in Whitefish until accepting a job with Glacier National Park in 1953. He retired as shop foreman after 27 years.

Smokey was a jack-of-all-trades. He and Isabell built three homes together.  They traveled extensively to Alaska, Hawaii, Europe and Scotland. He loved to hunt and fish, and made many fishing trips to the West Coast.

Smokey was preceded in death by his parents; and a brother, Ace.

He is survived by his wife, Isabell; brother, Howard; and sisters, Ethel, Shirley and Kay; children, Carl and wife Ethel, and Susan and husband Phil Coons; four grandchildren, Tom and wife Sarah, Colleen and husband Andrew Zebedeo, Jennifer Baldwin and Matthew Coons; and great-grandchildren, Christofer, Savannah, Abby, Shea, Alec, Lance, Wes and Kaylee.

A celebration of life service will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1, at Buffalo Hill Funeral Home.

Friends are encouraged to visit the website, www.buffalohillfh.com, to leave notes of condoloence for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.