James Francis Smith
April 22, 1935-December 6, 2025
Make me a channel of your peace
Jim Smith passed away peacefully on a mild Saturday afternoon in December after a long and courageous battle with cancer.
He was born in San Francisco, California, and enjoyed an adventurous childhood running around the city with his older sister and a sprawling group of cousins. As an eighth grader, Jim entered St. Joseph’s Seminary in Menlo Park and studied throughout high school for the priesthood, until a meaningful conversation with his confessor during his senior year convinced Jim that college (and the chance to date women) might be a better fit for his intellect, his work ethic, and his capacious sense of humor.
After flunking out of Stanford University as a sophomore, Jim worked for his father in the family’s insurance business in San Francisco, before enlisting in the Naval flight program in 1956. He married Ursula Anne Bertero Smith in 1958, and the six Smith kids were born in rapid succession while Dad had a career serving his country as a pilot aboard multiple aircraft carriers in the Pacific.
Although Jim was accepted into the nascent Navy Jet Pilot program, family life called him back to California, and he opened his insurance agency in San Jose. He finished his Stanford degree in classical languages by translating passages of Homer and Julius Caesar, submitting his work on weekends to faculty in Palo Alto.
Jim and Ursula decided to ditch the California lifestyle in the early 1970s and moved the kids to a small farm outside of Belle Fourche, South Dakota for three years. One of Jim’s greatest joys in later years was regaling anyone in earshot (as he said) of stories from the farm and the many adventures that the Smith family shared there,
In 1976, as Jim was driving his oldest son to college in Helena, he stopped by an insurance conference in Bozeman. Those conversations in the lobby of the Holiday Inn led him to move the family to Bozeman in 1977. Jim became one of the partners at First West Insurance, helping the agency grow and thrive over the next four decades. He accomplished a litany of industry benchmarks, won dozens of professional awards, and served on the boards of several local non-profits during his years at First West.
Jim and Ursula divorced in 1987, and he married Lorraine Van Ausdol in 1990. In his second marriage, Jim inherited another sprawling family of characters and adventurers, and life was never dull. Jim and Lorraine enjoyed cruises in the Caribbean and several trips to Europe, and cherished their family life in the Gallatin Valley.
Jim was truly a lifelong learner and loved fine arts, friendships, Bridger Bowl, and the Bobcats.
Jim is survived by his wife of 35 years, Lorraine Van Ausdol, the Smith kids and their spouses/kids, the Van Ausdol kids and their spouses/kids, and many blended family grandkids across the country who adored their ‘Grampa Jim.’ A celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
