Click here to view the Memorial Service

Leotta Louise Smith, 104, passed away peacefully at Southwest Healthcare Services Hospital in Bowman, ND on Sunday, December 7, 2025.

Service of Remembrance will be Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. MT at the Hettinger Lutheran Church in Hettinger, ND.  Rev. Galen Strand and Barb West will officiate.  Burial of Leotta's ashes will be at a later date next to her husband, Bud Smith at the Hettinger Cemetery.

Leotta Louise Smith was born February 15, 1921 to Albert and Mayme Wulf at their home near Flandreau, SD.  She was later joined by siblings Verla, who died in infancy, Doreen, twins Floyd and Lloyd (Lloyd passed away as an infant), and Darrell who was born after the family moved to a farm south of Strool, SD.  Leotta and her three siblings walked or rode horseback three miles to attend a one room country school.  After graduating from high school she attended Spearfish College, now called Black Hills State University.  She taught in the Lodgepole area for three years at the Hubbard and Fredlund schools.

Leotta and Bud were married on Valentine's Day in 1942 just months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Four months later Bud enlisted in the US Navy.  As a war bride, Leotta followed Bud during his training.  She worked in a tobacco factory packaging Chelsea cigarette in Richmond, VA, and as a sales person in a shirt shop in Long Beach, CA.  After Bud was assigned duty on the USS Waller, a destroyer that was sent to the South Pacific, Leotta returned to SD and worked for two and a half years in the office of John Morrel's Meat Packing Plant in Sioux Falls, SD.

Following Bud's discharge from the Navy, Leotta and Bud began farming and ranching with Bud's parents.  In 1951 they moved to the Newell and Bessie Smith homestead where they raised their family and spent most of their life.  Leotta and Bud had three children:  Vickie, Suzanne, and Tim.

Leotta was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith.  She was active in the Lodgepole community and was a member of Lodgepole Lutheran Church serving as treasurer for 29 years.  She was a Sunday School teacher and a Bethel Bible Class teacher.  She was a member of Jolly Jills Homemakers, the Grand River Homemakers, Lodgepole Ladies Aid, and Beta Sigma Phi.

She was an accomplished seamstress, sewing her daughter's dresses and skirts from childhood through high school, including their formals and bridesmaid dresses.  She enjoyed quilting and made over 30 queen size quilts for family members.  Leotta took on anything artistic and crafty; knitting sweaters, making her husband a sport coat, doing counted cross stitching, upholstering, refinishing furniture, and oil painting.   She also loved to dance, read, and exercise; walking country roads on the ranch for many years and in her later years using the hallway at Western Horizons as her track.

As a result of Bud's declining health, Leotta and Bud moved to Western Horizons in the fall of 2011.  After Bud's death, Leotta continued to live at Western Horizons until August 2025 when she moved to the Long Term Care Unit at Southwest Health Care in Bowman until her death.

Leotta is remembered with love and gratitude by her family:  her children Vickie (Rod) Reinke; Suzanne (Galen) Strand; Tim (Gwynne) Smith.  She is also remembered by her grandchildren: Travis (Julie) Reinke; Shana (Bill) Bernhard; Rochelle (Travis) Thompson; Kyle (Holly) Smith; Josh Smith; Jeff (Shalee) Smith.  She is also survived by great-grandchildren: Payton, Logan, Sydney, Sophia, Tucker, Aidan, Molly, Knox, Jaden, Aubree, and Boden; and great-great-grandchild, Ellie.

Leotta was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother.  She had a tremendous influence on her family and filled their lives with so many special memories.  We are so thankful for the gift of Leotta.

In lieu of flowers, a Memorial has been established to the Lodgepole, SD Rural Fire Department.