Lanette Smith

Lanette Smith, 69, of Billings, Montana, passed away at her home on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Lanette was born in Imperial, Nebraska to Verlon and N. Lucille (Ridlen) Dinnel. She grew up on the family farm near Enders, Nebraska. Some of her chores included milking cows. She loved to tell the story of the cow named "Over.” If you told the cow "over,” the cow would move to the side so it could be milked.

After graduating high school, Lanette attended Denver Women's College, studying interior decorating. She married her high school sweetheart, Clyde Smith, in Imperial, Nebraska, in June, 1970. The couple then moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where they welcomed their daughter Dorinda and sons, Kevin and Shane. In 1996, the family moved to Billings, following Clyde's job.

Lanette always wanted to be a mom and loved spending time with her three children and grandchildren. She taught Sunday school for many years and helped with vacation Bible school often. She was a 4-H leader and taught many kids cake decorating. She was an amazing seamstress, and created the most wonderful Halloween costumes around. She always found a way to make the costume fit over a winter coat, as one never knew if it would snow or not on Halloween in Wyoming. She was an excellent cook and made the best home-cooked meals. She knew what food everyone liked and would do her best to make it for them when they visited. She was proud of the fact that all three of her kids could cook.

She loved to look at floor plans and was always redesigning them so they would use space better. There was rarely a house that she didn't walk into that she didn't remodel in her mind. She also liked to do the daily crosswords. She had a collection of thimbles she got on family vacations and some that were hand made by family or gifts from family. She also cherished her milk bottle collection and was especially fond of her cop-top and baby-top milk bottles.

Lanette loved her grandchildren so much and they love her. They were the light of her life. They enjoyed spending time with her cooking, playing games, watching movies, playing with play dough, and belly laughing. She would keep the sculptures the kids would make and let them dry to keep them. She had a collection of their art and kept their voice mails so she could replay them. She loved to talk to her grandchildren and tell others about them. She knew what each of her grandkid's interests were and made sure to ask them about it.

Lanette is survived by her husband, Clyde, of Billings; daughter Dorinda (Mike) Gunderson of Baker, MT, with granddaughters Olivia and Grace; Son Kevin Smith of Fishers, IN, with grandsons Teague and Brock; Son Shane Smith (Jessica Brakke) of Billings, MT, with grandchildren Ruby and Bridger Tipton; Parents Verlon and N. Lucille (Ridlen) Dinnel of Imperial, NE; sisters Colleen (Dave) Mullanix of Lamar, NE, Ardith (Russ) Niemann of Ellington, CT, and Brenda Broughton of Beatrice, NE, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 14, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary, 1001 Alderson Ave.