Steven Wayne Smith, 77, of Moscow, passed away Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at Good Samaritan Assisted Living under the care of Elite Home Health and Hospice.
Steve was born Nov. 5, 1944, in Wallace, Idaho, to Walter and Mary Smith. He grew up in Mullan, Idaho, as the older brother to his twin sisters, Mary and Martha, and graduated high school in 1963. He was able to put himself through school at the University of Idaho by working in the mines around Mullan during the summers. He graduated in 1968 and returned to Mullan to teach. He married Leslie Summerkamp in Mullan, the two were later divorced.
In September of 1972, he married Donna Krulitz and they made their home in Anchorage, Alaska, where he worked for Western Airlines. The couple moved around the Pacific Northwest for a few years, during which time Steve earned his master’s degree in education from Eastern Washington University. In 1977, Steve and Donna made their permanent home in Moscow, where Steve worked at the University of Idaho Library. In 1979, he went to work at the Colton School District, where he worked for 29 years before retiring in 2008.
During his time in Colton, he took on many roles — he was a teacher, a football coach, a girls basketball coach and a librarian. He was an early adopter of technology in the library and digitized the school’s card catalog. Steve’s true love was books. His children spent many summers hanging out in the Colton School library and in his spare time, if he wasn’t watching sports on television, he was reading.
Steve is survived by his sons, Glen (Charlotte) Smith, of Snohomish, Wash., and Dan (Marianna) Smith, of Genesee; his daughter Katy (PJ) Holm, of Idaho Falls; his sisters; and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Donna, and his parents.
The family would sincerely like to thank Jeff and Marian Horton for all of their care and support; Dad was so very blessed to have a friend like Jeff. We would also like to thank Marie at Elite Home Health and Hospice for her compassionate care for Dad in his last few days.
An inurnment of ashes for both Steve and Donna Smith will be held at 2 p.m. June 18 at the Mullan Cemetery.
