Randy William Smith

DARBY - Randy William Smith, age 71, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend, passed on Sunday, January 16, 2022 from a heart attack.

Randy was born in Missoula, MT on August 06, 1950 to Florence and James Smith. His early years were spent growing up in mining camps and attending one room school houses. He attended Hellgate High School, but graduated from Salem High, in Oregon. As a young man, he moved to Alaska with his family and spent half of his life working in the bush. He was a construction engineer, project manager, and a licensed surveyor. He loved to cowboy as a young man, and he worked as a packer in the Selway Wilderness. From his many amazing horse stories, to his treks across Alaska, Randy was always up for an adventure and enjoyed sharing his many great stories with family and friends. He loved being on the water in any form possible, but he especially loved to captain his 59ft “Capella” built for Jack Dempsey, in 1936. Randy loved all animals and animals loved him. His horse, Blaze, even saved his life during a blizzard in the mountains.

He married Paulette Carlson, in 1989, and after living in Nashville for some time, they relocated to his home state of Montana and have lived south of Darby for 25 years.

He is survived by his wife, Paulette; sons, James Smith and Matthew Smith; daughters, Tina Baskaya, Jade Scheele, and Cali Malkovich; grandchildren, Joseph, Casey, Maya, Aidan, and Quinn, and siblings, Sharon Gilespie, Terri Hinman, Bonnie Worley, Larry Smith, Debbie Urick, Kelly Smith, and Tammie Scott.

Randy was such a kind man and will be missed by so many. He was dearly loved and respected by those that knew him well. May God bless him and the angels enfold him in their loving arms.

Memorial Services are open to all and will be held at Daly-Leach Memorial Chapel on Friday, January 21st, 2022 at 2:00pm, with reception to follow.