Barbara Smith

Barbara Alice Smith, age 85, of Plentywood, Mont., passed away peacefully Monday, April 7, 2025, at Faith Lutheran Home in Wolf Point Mont.

She was born April 21, 1939, in Poplar, Mont., the eldest child of late David and Amelia Smith. Growing up, Barbara barrel raced in high school on a bay gelding named Dollar. They were quite the team, and Dollar won her a pair of silver spurs and several belt buckles throughout their high school rodeo career.

After high school, she attended college in Minneapolis, Minn., and trained to be a laboratory and radiographic technician. After college, she went to work at Trinity Hospital in Wolf Point until she married in 1960. They moved to Arizona for a short time and, after returning to Poplar, she worked at the Community Hospital.

She was divorced in 1967 and continued working at the hospital and the USPH Clinic part-time.

On Feb. 27, 1969, she married Eugene Smith and she and her daughters, Virginia and Francine, moved to the farm west of Reserve, Mont., where they farmed and raised Charolais cattle and Arabian horses. Even while living out at the farm, Barbara continued working part-time as a technician until she eventually retired.

Barbara was a constant presence in her grandchildren’s school activities and rarely missed a birthday party or holiday event. A fond memory for her was attending the circus in Westby, Mont., where her grandchildren talked her into riding an