Jack Smith Obituary

In Loving Memory of Jack M. Smith
1944 – 2025

Jack M. Smith, age 81, of Bloomfield, New Mexico, passed away peacefully after a long battle with pain and disability.

Jack was born in Cortez, Colorado to Hazel and Milford Milligan. He spent time on his grandparent's - Jack and Lucille (Veach) Meadows - farm in McElmo Canyon at Battlerock, a place he loved and then missed all his life. His parents brought a sister, Jenell, into his young life before Hazel later married Ned Smith and they had two more siblings for Jack: Kitty and Bruce. Their family traveled for mining work across Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and New Mexico, where Jack attended Grants High School. He even worked in the uranium mines before graduation, then was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve his country with honor.

After his discharge from the Army, Jack met and married Jill Hill-Moore, from Dolores, Colorado, in 1968. They settled in Milan/Grants, New Mexico where he worked as a uranium miner and then mill worker. Jack was also well-known as a fair and reliable auto mechanic during his "off" days and hours. He was a hard-working man who took little time for leisure but would take his family fishing or camping in the mountains once or twice each year and to visit family in Colorado.

Jack was remarkably gifted with his hands and mind. He was a prolific reader, especially Louis L'Amour books, but magazines and mechanic books were of great interest, too. He was a thoughtful artist whether sketching new ideas and inventions, leather projects, crafting, building, or working on firearms with precision and passion. He had a talent for farming, taught to him through hard work by his Grandparents in the canyon, and so his gardens always produced an abundance of excellent vegetables. Kids and grandkids sure enjoyed raiding the rows of goodies to eat right in the field or, after they'd grown older, take home. All were horrified when he'd pull an onion out of the dirt, peel it and eat it raw! It is a very fond memory now.

Jack lived a life defined by strength, resilience, and integrity. He was a very private and proud man, most happy at home with Jill, family, and animals - of which he had a variety: pigeons, chickens, geese, donkeys, llamas, goats, ducks, rabbits, cats, and dogs. He labored on building fence and pens, caring for his creatures with devotion and contented joy. He loved to show off his farm! While in Bloomfield, NM, he developed friendships in a small network of chicken farmers who traded or purchased his incubated eggs or chickens.

Jack is survived by his wife, Jill, and their four children: daughters Tiffany Schuster, Brenda (Chuck) Bates, and Charlotte Bottom, and son Justin (Margaret) Smith, as well as his sister, Kitty Greenlee, and his Milligan siblings: Mildred Dunlap, Marilyn J. Lee, Marsha Buck, Debbie Exon White, Daniel Milligan, and Sandra LeBlanc. He is preceded in death by his parents and grandparents, his brother, Bruce, and his sister, Jenell. Jack also leaves behind many grandchildren, nieces/nephews, cousins, and friends, as well as his beloved nurse, Beth – who is a cherished member of the family now.

A celebration of Jack's life will be held on August 29, 2025, at the Dolores Community Center from 2:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. There will be a military honor guard ceremony at 3:00 and then food and refreshments will follow. All who knew and loved Jack are welcome to join in sharing stories, memories, and the spirit of a man who touched so many lives. He wished for his ashes to be scattered at Battlerock so there will be no burial. Please do not send flowers or donations.

Revelation 21:4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."