Carrie Mae (Greenwood) Smith 95 of Scottsbluff, NE passed away January 13, 2022, at Regional West Medical Center. Carrie was born October 31, 1926, in Manning, Scott County Kansas to Harry and Pearl (Gardner) Greenwood.
Visitation will be held at Gering Memorial Chapel from 9:00 am until 1:30 on January 21 with services at 1:30 pm, burial will follow at Bayard Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the family for designation at a later date and online condolences may be left at www.geringchapel.com. Please join the family for a gathering after interment at Bobby Joe’s Branding Iron in Bayard NE 3:30-5 pm.
Carrie is survived by her children, Dorene Schoolcraft (Bridgeport), LaDonna Christensen (Bridgeport), Don Smith (Gering), Judy (Guy) Coward (Scottsbluff), and Tracy Jopek (Merrill WI), 12 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren, and 8 great-great-grandchildren. She was a lifetime member of VFW Post 1638 Auxiliary in Merrill WI and a Gold Star Grandmother.
She was preceded in death by her husband Donald David Smith, parents Harry Edwin Greenwood, Pearle Marie (Gardner), sisters Dora Higgins, Lois Sanborn, brother Wesley Greenwood, Roy France, grandson Sgt. Ryan Jopek, sons-in-law Jerry Schoolcraft, Harry Christensen, daughter-in-law Shara Smith, and 3 infant great grandchildren.
Our mother was born in a much simpler time, growing up on the Kansas plains she had amazing grit and determination. She was just a young girl during the Kansas dust bowl and drought of the ’30s. She learned parenting skills early by taking care of her younger brother Wesley and then helping out her second eldest sister Lois with her young family in the ’40s. She was lovingly known as Aunt Toddy to her cousins and extended family. Living down the road from her was the Smith family, she was advised to stay away from ‘those Smith boys”, but one had caught her eye. On October 1st, 1947 she ran away to Colorado and married the dashing young Donald Smith. They built their first home together from scratch in Yuma Colorado from a drawing dad made on a brown paper bag. They moved to Sidney Nebraska and their family grew. Next, they moved to Alliance and delivered Mail for several years, retiring in Bayard before moving to Scottsbluff.
Life was never easy for them, but they never let us kids know it, as a young family of 5 there were many challenges, but mom was always firm and steadfast. Family to mom was everything, she loved all of us with her whole heart and then some. She was strong, courageous, beautiful, and loved each and every one of us kids.
Dorene, LaDonna, Donnie, Judy, and Tracy could not have asked for more in a mother and we will miss her forever! Then came her 13 grandchildren AKA the “Jackrabbits”; Stacy, Ruby (Tommy), Jeana (Sid), Chris, Stephanye, Alisha (Robert), Paul, Toni, Michelle (Patrick), Ryan, Jessica (Clinton), Alexandria (Michael), and Steven (Olivia) who enjoyed every minute with their grandma, in the mail truck, on the golf course, or just hanging out at the house. It was always about family and getting to see the grandkids. Then the great-grandchildren started arriving filling her cup to overflow with all the amazing additions to the family. Carrie, Emily, Isaiah Matthew, Trinity, Hailey, Isaiah Scott, Caleb, Adrian, Ademir (Mikayla), Sean, Ariel, Krystin, Tessa, Nicholas, Quentin, Alissa, Trenton, Jainaba, MyKenlea, Hunter, Colton, Waylon, Ryan II, Walter, Gordon, Miles, Caroline, Jase, and Stefan. She even got to see her 8 great-great-grandchildren Hunter, Armani, Kamari, Wesley, Christian, Andrew, Connor, and Everleigh. We were truly blessed she knew all of us by name till her very last breath.
Mom had many additional kids as well that joined our family over the years and called her mom or grandma. George, Jeep, Angel, Kenny, and Michael. She loved you all.
Calvin Coolidge was president when Mom was born, she lived through 16 Presidents, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She saw the utilization of electricity, indoor plumbing, cars, radio, television, and the internet. She watched a man walk on the moon and mourned the loss of JFK and Martin Luther King. In all of that, it was always family, always the love of those around her that mattered most.
She was married to Dad for 72 years before he passed away in 2019, they never left each other’s side. She missed him terribly since he’s been gone, I know he was overjoyed to have her by his side again. As a family, we were truly blessed by two amazing parents who loved and cared for us! Thank you both for showing us what love looks like. We will always miss you and we will love you forever and always. Please continue to watch over us and guide us through the rest of our days.
Your kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great grandkids.
Our family would like to thank our amazing family Chiropractor Dr. Daryl Wills and all who cared for both mom and dad till the end. We are forever grateful for all that you did to keep them well over the years. A special thank you to Mom’s caretaker Jody Wiseman for helping our family meet mom’s daily needs, and finally to our oldest sister Dorene who has stayed with mom to help since dad passed away, we are so grateful for you.
