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Mark Leonard Smith, 53

Mark Leonard Smith, age 53, of Spirit Lake, Idaho, closed his final chapter in this amazing life and moved on to his eternal life with his Lord Jesus Christ on Jan. 5, 2020. He was surrounded by his wife of 25 years, Kristine; his daughter, Ariel; mother-in-law, Carla; and, by the grace of God, his son, Garett, by phone.

Born and raised in Spokane, Mark lived his entire life in the Pacific Northwest. In his early years, Mark enjoyed a variety of sports, but found bull riding to be his true calling (a visual his wife found quite amusing as he was such a big guy!). Along with bull riding, Mark also enjoyed softball — something his daughter, Ariel, inherited from him. Priding himself as a master in slow-pitch, he had what seemed to be a 20-minute hang-time in his pitches — virtually impossible to hit! Not being an avid runner, he could hit the leather off the ball just so he could trot around the bases (something else that made his wife giggle).

Other favorite pastimes for this wonderful man included hunting with his father, snowmobiling with his step-father and bowling. Mark had always dreamed of joining the Senior Pro Bowling Tour upon retirement — having bowled three 300 point games, two of which were sanctioned.

At the age of 17, Mark went to work busting tires at Eagle Systems. In a career spanning almost 35 years with his incredibly tenacious work ethic, he was able to climb the corporate ladder to his final position of regional maintenance manager.

Upon retirement, Mark went to work for the road committee for our homeowner’s association. Plowing 26 miles of road while riding in an archaic, barely running, duck taped together P.O.S can bring out the crazy in any normally-sane person. For Mark, it was that much more fun. If, after 12 hours of plowing, an ungrateful resident would come out and yell about being plowed in — you better bet that same resident would be drifted in till June. On the flip side, Mark would always help out a stranded neighbor and give a quick swipe to ease the pain of shoveling 12 feet of Mother Nature’s finest.

Retirement was not lost on Mark. He enjoyed many things; one of which was Facebook. Early on he used to stalk people through his wife’s account. With his sarcastic sense of humor and sharp tongue he would leave a spicy comment on someone’s post, only to have his wife find it and follow it up with, “That wasn’t me — it was Mark!” It only took a few years of apologizing and clean-up to make her realize that creating his own account and forcing him to use it would be her only saving grace. From that point on no one was safe. No topic was off-limits. His favorite, of course, was anything Trump! Nothing gave Mark more pleasure than tormenting a non-Trump fan by inundating them with all things “Make America Great Again!”

In living the life of leisure, Mark found a love of yard work and gardening that he managed to rope his poor unsuspecting mother-in-law into. His angle was to drag her to the nurseries, buy a hundred or more flowers, bulbs or starts, and then talk her into “helping” him plant them. By helping, that almost always meant that she would plant and Mark would sit on the tractor and supervise. With a twinkle in his eye, his famous catchphrase was, “There’s only one supervisor and that’s me,” to which her reply was “I’m 75 years old – get off the tractor and plant your dadgum bulbs!”

Mark’s greatest joy was to watch his kids grow into the amazing adults that they are today; Corey served in the U.S. Army; Garett is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force and Ariel works at Lowe’s and is finishing her college education in the medical field. He is so incredibly proud of who they are and the impact they will have on the world. Rest assured that he is watching over them and will not miss a moment of what is to come.

Mark touched so many people throughout his time on this earth. Toward the end, he chose to accept Jesus into his life. With that decision came clarity, love and a time to forgive. It was important for Mark to keep positive, impactful people around him, especially those who cared for and supported him in his final days.

Mark is survived by many family and friends that he loved and that truly knew him, loved him and somehow tolerated his ornery sense of humor. Those who preceded him in death will welcome him home with open loving arms.

“Rest in peace my love — until we meet again.”

For those who would like to join in celebrating the beautiful life of Mark Smith — please come to Real Life Ministries at 1860 N. Cecil Road, Post Falls, Idaho, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation in memory of Mark L. Smith to Hospice of North Idaho, where he was treated with dignity and respect during his final hours.

To see Mark’s online memorial and to leave a message for the family please visit www.englishfuneralchapel.com.