Bill Smith

Life sketch of Henry William “Bill” Smith

Born ~ May 8th 1947      Died ~ July 19th 2018

Parents: Henry Smith and Louisa Durfee Smith

Siblings: Nettie and Donald Baird, Audrey and Calvin Peterson

Larry and Gaydena Stocking Smith, Marsha and Tom Cenarrusa

There was never a baby more wanted than when Bill was born. Mom and Dad, Henry and Louisa Durfee Smith left the Electric Bakery in Twin Falls on a new venture in their life to buy a small farm in Carey, with hopes of starting a New Life after the end of the War and to begin adding to their little family. Nettie and Audrey, Bill’s big sisters were so excited to have a baby and it just got better when they learned that their mama had a baby brother for them. Celebrating Bill’s first Birthday was extra special as his big sister Nettie was marrying the love of her life Donald and the added bonus. It was Donald’s Birthday also. Through the years May 8th has been a very celebrated occasion for our family, not only Bill’s Birthday, Donald’s Birthday,  Nettie and Donald’s Anniversary it also included Mother’s Day numerous times through out the years.  14 Months later Bill was joined by his brother Larry and a couple years later sister Marsha which completed the Smith Family of 5 children.

At an early age he wanted to be a cowboy. At age 3 on the 24th of July Celebration he entertained everyone at the rodeo by riding a lamb. When the lamb was out of the chute he threw his hat in the air as he circled the arena because he thought that’s what cowboys did and then fell to the ground pretending to get bucked off. He always participated in the 24th of July celebration either by singing with his friend Doug Albertson or by racing his horse Prince.

From an early age he was always making life long friends. One special friend he had was Kathy Rhodes. They would spend hours playing and riding their horses. His 10th BD   was none like any other. He had a crush on 2 girls and they were good friends. To his surprise they tagged along with him most of the party each holding one of his hands. It was heaven.  Bill and Larry really liked the sheep herder that Dad had working for him. Mom made sure that she fed anyone that was around during meal time. After supper the old man would take him and Larry away to a quiet place and begin his story telling, he especially liked telling the boys stories of Bears and loved listening to them run screaming to momma for help.

Bill had an avid love for the gospel and truly loved his Savior.  As he was growing up he grew to love the Scout Programs. In school he was very involved with all sports activities and especially the FFA program which he continued to support throughout his life, He also loved literature and composing stories and poems

Bill loved his years in High School. His 1st car especially a 57 Ford Fairlane 500. It was especially cool to drag main street in Carey and go to the movies on Saturday night at the church always stopping at the Sport Shop before going home and getting one of Louie’s Milkshakes.

Before Graduation Bill enlisted in the Airforce and was especially proud to serve during the Vietnam War. Later in Life he wrote several poems describing it and his feelings towards it. He was stationed at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth Texas where he met the love of his life Patty. They were married and had Richard and Venus while serving his country. After Bill was discharged and able to come back home they moved to Arco where Mom and Dad had moved and opened up The Royal Café and Bakery. He went to work with Dad at the INEL as a laborer. Soon they were blessed with a daughter Michelle what a special blessing to have for the rest of the family because we couldn’t be around when the other kids were born, So everyone spent lots of time loving on that beautiful little girl. At about 6 weeks old Michelle passed suddenly of SIDS. The loss of losing their baby was a great hardship on their marriage and soon divorced. As time went by Bill remarried and was blessed with two more sons. James and Robert so there were 4 keeping him busy and always doing fun activities with them. In the mid 70’s mom and dad moved to Bliss to operate the Roadrunner Café and Truck Stop. Bill started cooking graveyard shift and was especially proud of the Biscuits and Gravy that he served. Later he Leased the I-80 Texaco from Dad where a Truck Tire exploded on him and he was injured very bad, his hand, foot and leg. He has suffered much pain from those injuries. Bill continued to spend lots of time at the River with his children teaching them to water ski, they also spent many hours in the air with their dad flying his airplane. A few years passed and Bill remarried again and was blessed with his daughter Debra. That completed his family.

Bill was always very intelligent when it came to Words, the stories he could tell and the poems that he wrote were numerous. There wasn’t a Holiday, Anniversary or ‘Funeral that Bill didn’t write a special poem for them. Please enjoy his poem about “FRIENDS” included in the program.

Bill, Larry and Marsha grew up in a different time than Nettie and Audrey, therefore we were raised with their children, It was impossible to get any of their children to call us Aunt and Uncle. One person who stayed a true friend from childhood to now was his friend Bill Laidlaw. We will let him share some memories a little later. I don’t even know when Bill missed having dinner with Elwin Style on Veterans Day. They would meet every year at Golden Coral in Twin to reminisce of the past and have a free dinner.

As years went by Richard became a Dr. of Sports Medicine and was living in Taiwan. Together they bought a little acreage in Tuttle. Life was grand and going well for Bill until he received word from Richard and was returning to the US to spend some time at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City for treatments. Immediately Richards mother Patty flew to be with him through his treatments as she was aware of it all as she was surviving cancer patient. Bill, Patty and Richard spent as much time reminiscing of old times and the future as possible just trying to catch up on their lives and their past. Richard lost his battle to Cancer and within a year Patty’s cancer had come back with a vengeance and she was gone, within a few short years he would loose his son Robert to cancer as well. This was such a tragedy for Bill and the last few years we have worried about him and how difficult it must have been for him to bear losing all of his Special Loved Ones. Even though his health was failing he felt if he didn’t stay focused and continue to work and Drive Truck he would go crazy thinking about his losses. Bill never let you see him down. He always had a smile and a hello for everyone that he met and was always willing to help you anyway that he could. Bill our Dear Brother we will truly miss and love you we pray that you have found comfort in the arms of all of your loved ones. What a joyous reunion you must be having. Till we meet again, rest in peace.

Bill is survived by his siblings Audrey, Larry and Marsha; his children: Venus, James and Debra and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

A memorial graveside service will be held on Thursday, August 2, 2018 at 11:00 am at the Hagerman Cemetery in Hagerman.

Cremation arrangements are under the care and direction of Demaray Funeral Service – Gooding Chapel.

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