Richard Smith

Richard L. Smith, 91, of Columbia Falls, passed away Sept. 12, 2011, at Kalispell Regional Hospital.

He was born Feb. 18, 1920, in White Earth, Minn., to Samuel J. and Mary T. (Hildreth) Smith. He attended school at the Catholic Mission School in White Earth and high school in Waubun, Minn.

Richard enlisted in the Marine Corps at the beginning of World War II and served in the South Pacific as a member of Carlson's  Raiders. He married Marjorie L. Cajune in 1944 and they settled in Dixon. He worked in the logging industry and also for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Flathead Indian Agency.

In 1960, he transferred to Glacier National Park as a heavy equipment operator and was instrumental in opening the Going-to-the-Sun Road for many years. He transferred with the Park Service to Petrified Forest in Arizona as a road foreman and from there went to Lake Mead Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nev. He retired in 1984 as the facility manager at Lake Mead. He continued to live in the Las Vegas area until 2003, when he returned to the Flathead Valley, residing in Columbia Falls.

Richard was preceded in death by his wife Marjorie and son Lawrence (John).

He is survived by his children, Nancy Jo Hall and husband Virgil, of Great Falls, Richard W. Smith and wife Lorinda, of Whitefish, Mary Louise Smith, of Columbia Falls, and Joseph E. Smith and wife Sue, of Columbia Falls; nine grandchildren; and nine great grandchildren.

A graveside memorial service was held at St. Richard's Catholic Cemetery on Sept. 17, 2011.

Memorials may be sent to the Wildcat Athletic Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 2732, Columbia Falls MT 59912, or donor's choice.