Eugene E. ‘Gene’ ‘Snuffy’ Smith, 94

Eugene Smith, 94, of Kalispell, passed away in his sleep Oct. 27, 2022, at the Whitefish home of his daughter and son-in-law.

Gene was born Sept. 11, 1928, in Rush Springs, Oklahoma, to Roy V. and Ethel F. (Patrick) Smith, the sixth of seven siblings. Gene was raised in Rush Springs, with brief family stays in Texas to help in the war effort during World War II. He graduated from Rush Springs High School.

Gene enlisted in the U.S Army Nov. 5, 1948. He signed up for artillery, thinking he would spend his time nearby in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Instead, he was sent to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, then to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. He spent three years deployed in Panama during the Korean War and was honorably discharged June 10, 1952.

Gene came to Montana in 1952 to help his sister, Nadine Bolin, and her young children following the death of her husband, Charles, in a hunting accident that fall. Gene moved to Montana permanently in 1953. Gene met his future wife, Louise Meeks, in Kalispell that year as Louise and her parents and siblings attended the church that Nadine and Charles had pastored there. Gene and Louise were married June 25, 1954, celebrating 68 years of marriage before his passing.

Church was always an important part of Gene’s life, from his early days at the Methodist church in Rush Springs, to First Church of God in Kalispell where he met Louise, (later Northridge Heights Church of God,) then Whitefish Community Church of God where his son-in-law pastored, later Kalispell Nazarene, and finally Flathead Ekklesia in Kalispell, where he played his fiddle with the worship team just four days before his passing.

They had three children, Rena, Rick and Melody, as well as seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Over the years they opened their home to many nieces, nephews, and others needing a place to live.

In Montana, Gene worked at Glacier Concrete Pipe, and then McElroy & Wilkin Ready Mix, retiring from there after 28 years, mainly driving a concrete truck. During those years he acquired the affectionate nickname Snuffy, due to his small stature and resemblance to the popular cartoon character, along with his last name, and his wife’s name. Many contractors and construction workers in the valley didn’t know him by anything other than Snuffy.

Gene inherited a lifelong love of music and had the natural ability to sing and to play nearly any stringed instrument he was given. He passed that talent and passion down to some of his children and to all seven grandchildren. He enjoyed a lifetime of playing music in the churches they attended, playing with Don Landon and others in many area nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and playing in the treasured family jam sessions through the years.

Gene was a lifelong hunter, and although his main area of hunting was always “west of Kalispell,” he enjoyed going east of the mountains in Montana when his family was growing up and hunting big game in Alaska various times with family. Several of the animals also became typical Montana wall décor, but his main goal was feeding his family, and he always succeeded in that. He passed his love of hunting on to his family, and those hunts and lunches around the campfire together, wherever they happened, are treasured memories.

Gene was a hard worker, a loving husband, and a devoted family man. Through the years he enjoyed camping trips with family and friends, vacations around the U.S., especially visiting family in the Southwest, and numerous trips to and months living and working with family in Alaska. He and Louise enjoyed two cruises to the Caribbean, and many Hawaiian vacations, including taking family to their youngest daughter’s wedding there.

He spent a few years creating oil paintings on canvas and building frames for them. Again, he was self-taught and amazingly creative. He expanded that to woodworking, making numerous wine cork trivets, antler back scratchers, Diamond Willow walking sticks, miniature music box baby grand pianos, foot massagers, decorative mirrors, games, and lots of home décor. Gene designed and built two of their family homes west of Kalispell and helped build homes for both daughters in Whitefish in the 1990s. He did amazing masonry and rock work, building beautiful river rock fireplaces.

As the grandkids came along, Gene and Louise traveled to attend their sports, musical and dance events. He loved practical jokes, for which he was legendary, happy to play with any little kids, and collecting toys and jokes to entertain them when they came to visit.

He liked coffee, Alpine Touch, salt, and more salt. (“It hardens your arteries and makes your back straight,” he was known to say.) Soda pop, sweet tea, sugar, and an endless hoard of junk food and candy added to his diet favorites of fried potatoes, corn on the cob and watermelon. He loved to eat out, and to tease the waitresses that became friends through the years.

He had a lifetime of stories that he loved to remember and tell, and he often started with, “Did I tell you about the time ...” His childhood and growing up years, the Army, hunting experiences, vacations and trips, pouring concrete around Northwest Montana, including on Big Mountain and in Glacier Park, — it all sparked stories.

Gene was preceded in death by his grandparents, his parents, his siblings and their spouses, and Louise’s parents and four of her siblings.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Louise; their children, Rena (Larry) Lautaret, Rick (Beverly) Smith, and Melody (Dennis) Ackley; their seven grandchildren, including Lori (Jason) Stoffer, Rachel Lautaret, Luke (Stephany) Lautaret, David (Jill) Lautaret, Taylor (Alison) Ackley, Connor (Kattie) Ackley, and Dalton (Kara) Ackley; and 11 great-grandchildren, who were Grandpa Gene’s great delight in recent years, Zoralee, Kyra, Bennett, Ziah, Hunter, Dessie, Efia, June, Emmylou, Harlan and Calvin. Gene was close to his many nieces and nephews, as well as to Louise’s siblings, their spouses and their families. He was the patriarch and is so loved and missed.

A family gathering to honor and remember his life will be held at a later time.

Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.

Memorials are suggested to Flathead Ekklesia, P.O. Box 3454, Kalispell, MT 59903 (where Gene attended the last few years, under the leadership of his son-in-law, Larry,) or to Kalispell First Church of the Nazarene, 1295 Whitefish Stage, Kalispell, MT 59901.