Darleen (Boots) Verna Smith

June 16, 1938 – December 15, 2018

Boots Smith, 80, passed away at the home of her youngest son, with her family by her side on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. She was born on June 16, 1938 in Tonasket, Wash. to parents William Stalder and Verna Zachman Stalder. Boots graduated from Tonasket High School in 1956.

Boots married Ron Wood in Omak on May 7, 1959. They made their home in Omak where they welcomed three sons. In January 1969 they moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where they divorced. She met and married Gene Smith in 1981 and moved to his home in Moses Lake, Wash. where they farmed and raised cattle.

Boots loved horses; she was Tonasket Rodeo Queen 1956 and rode with the Coeur d’Alene Satellites drill team. She performed at many rodeos including in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Boots was a Moses Lake resident for 38 years and retired in 1999 from working for Moses Lake School District for 27 years in the dietary department.

Boots is survived by her three sons, William Wood and his wife Jackie Wood, Don Wood and Duke Wood and his wife Marcelle Wood; stepson Tony and his wife Tomi Smith; sister Willa Mae Burbery and husband Chuck Burbery; brother Chuck Stalder and wife Billy Jo Stalder and grandchildren Roxanne, Casey, Whitney, Christina, Whitney, Caden and Cooper. She was preceded in death by her husband Gene Smith.

Boots will be laid to rest at Tonasket Cemetery in Tonasket, Wash.