Bonnie Lee Smith

Bonnie Lee Smith died peacefully at home on August 29, 2026, surrounded by her loving family. 

Bonnie was born in Billings, MT to Jack and Patricia Shotwell and was the first of three children, preceding Alan Ward and Colleen Emilie.

After moving from Laurel to Broadus, Bonnie and her family settled in Billings in 1960, where Bonnie attended Central Heights grade school, Lincoln Jr. High School, graduating from Billings West High School in 1970. She loved school and was serious about her studies, graduating 17th in her class of several hundred students. She was an accomplished violinist and pianist, playing violin in the West High Orchestra through her senior year.

She enjoyed spending her summers visiting her grandparents in Forsyth, getting together with her Matz cousins, and spending time on the Kesterson Ranch in Sumatra with her cousin Danae, where they loved riding Sweetie Pie and spending time with their older cousin Donna.

After graduating from high school, Bonnie attended Montana State University in Bozeman for two years, taking general studies with a strong emphasis on math and science. She took a break from school after her sophomore year and returned to Billings.

While in Billings, Bonnie met her future husband, Phillip Grant Smith, son of Maynard Eugene Smith and Helen Margaret Smith. They were both working at Kmart, where Phil was an assistant manager. Bonnie worked in the cash office and Phil said she “smelled like money”, forgetting that it wasn’t HER money! He proposed to her on July 4, 1975, while gutting the fish they had caught at Hyalite Reservoir that day. They married September 20, 1975, in Billings, MT and have two wonderful sons: Adam Phillip Smith and Matthew Eric Smith.

In addition to being a full-time mom, Bonnie kept herself busy with volunteering for the school board at Anderson School and with Intermountain Opera (now Opera Montana) and plying her talents to a range of hobbies from crocheting, quilting, and playing piano to her artistry with ceramics, which earned her multiple awards over the years at the Gallatin County Fair. She was also a voracious reader, never without a book on hand, and an avid solver of sudoku and word puzzles. Later, she reentered the workforce working reception at Farr Automotive and then in the Student Accounts office at MSU. But no matter what she was doing, she was unwaveringly kind to all and eternally optimistic.

There were many wonderful camping and boating adventures with family and friends at Cliff Lake, Smith River, and a special trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Her travels with Phil and friends also included riverboat trips through Europe and even Russia.

Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents, Jack and Pat; Dick Shotwell, Irene O’Hara; Pat and John Matz; Bonnie and Jack Matquis; Bob and Mavis Shotwell; Donald “Swede” and Dana Lundahl, and several cousins; her brother Alan; her in-laws, Ding and Helen; brother-in-law Mike and Mike’s wife, Sue, and their son, Brett; brother-in-law Denny; sister-in-law Peg and Peg’s husband, Jim. Survivors include: oldest son, Adam of Boston, MA; youngest son, Matt of Belgrade, MT, and his daughters, Caydence “Kati” Marie and Macy Ahnna, and their mother, Stacy Adams Smith-Rapela, of Portage, MI; sister Colleen and her husband John Rickard of Billings, MT; sister-in-law, Sheila Smith of Ione, CA; sister-in-law, Kathy and her husband, Imants Freimanis of Danville, IN; sister-in-law, Ann and her husband Kraig Kincaid of Bigfork, MT; many nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved very much; and many wonderful and well-loved friends.

Family and friends please join Bonnie’s Celebration of Life at Dahl Funeral & Cremation Service on Friday, September 11, 2026, at 11:00 AM. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to: Doctors Without Borders  | St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 

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