Scott Thurman Smith, 81, of Spanish Fork, Utah passed away at his home on September 2, 2023.
Thurman was born in Richfield, Utah on June 5, 1942, the first son of Scott Barton and Elizabeth Thurman Smith. He grew up in Circleville, Utah, where he attended Piute High School. After graduation he worked for the power company before attending the College of Southern Utah in Cedar City.
An active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Thurman served a full time mission in Billings, Montana. Following his mission, he entered the service of his country with the 2nd Battalion of the 222nd Field Artillery of the Utah National Guard.
After basic training and reassignment to the Montana National Guard, Thurman married his sweetheart LaDawn Hepworth Smith on June 3, 1966 in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple. Together they raised their five children, Daven, DeShawn (deceased), Dan, Darren, and Drew in Billings.
While working, attending to his commitment to the National Guard, and fulfilling Church callings, Thurman attended Eastern Montana College where he earned a degree in Mathematics.
Over the years, Thurman held various jobs. He worked for Lasa Data Center in Billings, Montana, as a project manager and Data Analyst. He worked for the State Library System at the Parmly Billings Library where he was a systems administrator as well as part of the team to bring the first public access internet to Billings. He was an Adjunct Professor in Mathematics at the Montana State University Billings as well as at the Utah Valley University. He taught Seminary and Institute for the Church Educational System. Recently, Thurman worked for SirsiDynix which was a software company used to run library systems.
In his free time, Thurman loved to go fly fishing. He was a craftsman who tied his own flies. The quality allowed him to sell the flies at the local fishing shops. The proceeds funded his sons’ missions and musical instruments. He loved singing with his barbershop group. He liked to carve wood and watch rodeos. In his younger days he enjoyed playing racquetball and hunting.
Thurman’s life was one of service. He served as bishop, branch president, and as a temple worker in the Billings Montana Temple. He also served with his sweetheart LaDawn as a service missionary, working in customer support for the LDS Gospel Library App.
He is survived by: his sweetheart LaDawn; four of his children, Daven Smith, Dan (Carrie) Smith, Darren (Kristi) Smith, Drew (Yung Fang) Smith; siblings, Tom Smith, Margo Mackay, Bard Smith, Lasca Killian; daughter-in-law, Susan; 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, whom he adored. He is preceded in death by his dear son DeShawn Smith.
A funeral service will be held Saturday, September 9, 2023 at the Maple Meadows 1st Ward Building, 1911 East 1850 South, Spanish Fork, Utah at 4:00 p.m. Family and friends may attend a visitation from 2:30-3:45 p.m. prior to the services. Interment will be held at the Spanish Fork Cemetery.
5 Condolences for Scott Thurman Smith
Condolences(5)
Dave Castelli says
September 6, 2023 at 7:12 pmSo sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately I have another commitment on the 9th so I won’t be able to attend.
Steve Kenworthy says
September 7, 2023 at 12:09 pmI am sorry for your loss. Thurman was a friend and mentor to me when I worked at SirsiDynix. he was an all-around nice guy.
Jeff Olsen says
September 8, 2023 at 1:24 amIt was my pleasure managing Thurman at SirsiDynix and traveling with him on occasion. The customers loved him and he developed a great rapport with everyone who knew him. I took my kids to watch the barbershoppers (my daughter called them “The Singing Grandpas” Thurman was a dear friend to all and will certainly be missed.
PJ Peery says
September 8, 2023 at 10:08 pmI am so sorry to hear about Thurman’s passing. In the short time I knew him, he was a pleasure to associate with. What a gentleman! We wish you the very best during this difficult time.
Russell Ericksen says
September 14, 2023 at 5:42 pmI, like I’m sure many of you, was sad to hear on Sunday about the passing of Thurman Smith. I thought some of you, the members of our ward and neighborhood who know him may enjoy hearing some of my personal good memories about Thurman, so I thought I would share.
Several years ago, a group of us were invited to sing a musical number at the ward Christmas party. That group included me, Jason Karp, Rob Foussat, and Thurman. We sang a men’s four-part harmony arrangement of Jingle Bells. We had a lot of fun practicing and preparing for it and especially performing it at the Christmas party. I didn’t realize that Thurman had a such great love and appreciation for barbershop music. He began inviting the 3 of us to his home on a weekly basis to learn and practice some other barbershop songs. He was the leader of our group and significantly increased our repertoire of barbershop sheet music, as well as CD recordings for us to practice. After a few months we had several songs put together that turned out surprisingly well! Thurman’s enthusiasm for barbershop was contagious for all of us. Thurman sang lead (second tenor). Rob sang first tenor. Jason sang baritone, and I sang bass. We had a lot of enjoyable evenings at the Smith home, singing and practicing the songs. One of our favorites was Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart, of which there are great renditions sung by The Statler Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys! One evening, my sons Gavin and Rhett when they were little walked over by themselves to hear us sing. Rhett recorded us singing Hello Mary Lou on his small handheld game player 3DS. Otherwise, we sadly never recorded or ultimately performed any of the songs live in front of an audience, but we had a lot of enjoyment doing it ourselves.
For some years, the Smiths welcomed the ward choir to rehearse at their home. We appreciated them offering their place for us to sing and practice.
I always appreciated Thurman’s positive, friendly and good nature. Like Brother Rasmussen said, if you ever asked him how he was doing, he would always reply that he is happy and he always seemed to be that way. He was always very complementary toward me anytime it was my turn to lead music in priesthood opening exercises or to conduct a meeting or give a talk. I enjoyed when he taught lessons and led discussions. I admired and respected his technical and mathematical knowledge. I enjoyed hearing his thoughts and memories about growing up in Circleville Utah and then later how he and Ladawn enjoyed living and raising a family in Montana. I enjoyed conversing with him about his historical knowledge of the birthplace and childhood home in Circleville of the infamous Utah native Butch Cassidy!
Thurman’s faith and testimony of the gospel was a great example to me. I look forward with hope toward the possibility of one day reuniting with a friend such as he and recalling some of these good memories.
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