Inez J. Smith

Inez Jean Smith was born on a cold winter day, Feb 18th, 1934 during the Great Depression, to parents Winfield Scott and Elba Miller Pankey, at their home on Elkhead in Colorado. She was the 9th of 13 children, though not all survived and grew up.

She attended schools in Hayden, CO and was a very good student. She was Valedictorian of her 8th grade class. One of her stories: one day when mom was about 3 or 4 years old, an aunt was visiting their house and commented that she was not very p- r- e- t- t- y-(spelled out) and she answered “No, but I’m s- m- a- r- t! (She was very pretty and she was sure smart!).

She graduated 8th grade in 1948, and began High School the next fall. She finished two more grades, but, the US became involved in the conflict in Korea, and in July 1950 she and Army Medic Leslie Hinkle eloped to New Mexico, along with her cousin Jeannie and Clay Woods. Leslie got out of the Army and their first child, Carla was born at the end of April, 1951. Leslie died in a truck accident in September 1952, and their son, Steven was born in October, the same year.

Inez went back to school, and graduated HS in May, 1954. She married Tom D. Smith on the night of her senior prom, with two policemen as witnesses!

Tom and Inez had 3 more children, LuAnn in 1956, Tom in 1959 and Brick in 1962. They bought a home at on Rose St in 1963, and lived there for the rest of their lives, raising the 5 kids together.

She had long auburn red hair, fair skin and freckles. She had her appendix out in 1941. She played the piano, and sang to her kids. She taught us to play chopsticks and Heart and Soul. She cooked for the family, and she baked cinnamon rolls on cold winter days, and made noodles. When she made the noodles, she put clean white dish towels over all the kitchen cabinet doors, and there were noodles hanging everywhere to dry. She canned in the fall, putting up bushels of peaches and pears, tomatoes and whatever other fruit was available. She cut up and packaged wild game.

She was a Brownie and Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader. She was in Tops Club. She worked, cleaning motel rooms, doing childcare at home, sold Avon, and as a checker at the Safeway store for 27 years. She was a Union Organizer and Steward. She retired, and learned to do beautiful Swedish weaving, and made afghans for all her kids.

In 1976 she along with her sisters, Doris and Daisy , and LuAnn and husband Randy, went to London and traveled across Europe, visiting Paris, Lausanne, Geneva, Pisa, and Rome by car, before heading via night train in a triple decker sleeper back to Paris, across the channel to London and to LuAnn’s home in Scotland.

2000 brought some health changes, as she had heart bypass surgery, but recovered. She traveled to Alaska on a ferry with her cousin Jeannie and in 2011 after husband Tom passed away, she went to Washington DC and got to visit and tour the White House.

The loss of her son Tom in 2013 was very hard, and she seemed to lose a bit of her spark. Her final years were spent mostly at home, watching TV and visiting with family, but always following world events and politics. On Election Day 2016 she suffered a heart attack, but came back once again, a little more frail.

She passed away after a stroke, 3 days short of her 85th birthday.

Inez is survived by 2 daughters; Carla, and her sons Eric and Kevin, LuAnn (Randy) and their children Karl, Brett and Alayna, and sons Steve (Carol) and Brick; Step son Terry( Pat) and children Clayton and Skye, Tom’s children Anita, Bobbie, Andrea, Rachel, Katie, Cristen and Bryon, 15 great grandchildren and 1 great-great grandson. Also survived by her brother Winfield Pankey (Reva) and sisters Daisy Smith (Don), Doris Adams and Mary Lou Little, sisters and brothers- in- law from both marriages, cousins, and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, 8 siblings, 1st husband Leslie, 2nd husband Tom, and son “Tom Tom”.