Alexander Smith, Sr. of Kinnear

ETHETE - Funeral services for Alexander Smith Sr., 79, will be conducted at 10 a.m. today, Feb. 20, in Blue Sky Hall in Ethete by Fr. Dan Gannon, S.J. Interment will be in St. Stephens Catholic Cemetery.

He died Feb. 17, 2004, at the family home in Johnstown Valley, after several years of battling cancer.

Born Feb. 10, 1925, in Ethete, he was the son of Luke Alexander and Minnie (Hanna) Smith. His Indian name was "heni'ece bisisie:t" or "Buffalo Coming Out."

He attended St. Michaels and Fort Washakie Indian boarding schools; Chemewah Indian School in Oregon; and Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kan., where he learned the welding trade.

Employed by the Sweetwater, Pinedale, Dubois and Fremont County ranches, he then worked many years at Hunters Trading Post in Fort Washakie; was a foreman of the Double Diamond Ranch on the East Fork in Dubois; and was farm foreman at the Arapaho Ranch in 1954. Transferred as south-side manager, he lived on the Simison Ranch, in the Owl Creeks, in North Pavillion for 30 years and retired in 1985.

He was an avid basketball player and an original member of the Wind River Indian basketball team that traveled to throughout the Rocky Mountain region and played in all Indian and state amateur basketball tournaments. A fan of the Denver Broncos, he also enjoyed hunting, fishing, being with his family and friends, and watching his grandchildren participate in sports.

Survivors include family members Rubin Behan, Alexander Jr, Harold and John Smith, and others; three adopted sons, Milton Trosper Sr., Gary Brown and John Yellow Plume and his wife; four sisters, Irma Groesbeck, Sylvia and Edith Dewey and Joyce Hutchinson; two brothers, Gerald Smith and Doug Frazier; 17 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Ellen Julia (Aragon) Smith; parents; grandparents, Susana and Ute Hanna and Alexander and Laura White; six brothers; and three sisters.

Wind Dancer Funeral Home of Fort Washakie is in charge of arrangements.


Courtesy of Casper Star Tribune - Trib.com