We regretfully announce the passing of Eldon “Butch” Morris Smith, 76, of Manchester, WA. Butch passed away on September 9th, 2022, after an aggressive onset of lung cancer.

Butch was born to Eldon and Maxine Smith on September 3, 1946 in Corona, California.
An independent, vibrant, and loving personality from the beginning, Butch was a lifelong student of the universe. He graduated from Pasco High School, but he took a hiatus from his studies at the University of Washington in 1966 to enjoy a paid vacation to the South China Sea, courtesy of his Uncle Sam.

There, Butch was a helmsman on the carrier USS Coral Sea and would strive thereafter to never stray far from the water if possible.

After his tour he graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in Business and began a long sales career for a global tobacco firm. Butch quickly showed himself to be a natural leader skilled in the craft of active listening and became known as a beloved mentor who counted a great many protégés as dear friends to the end.

Butch loved cars, music, and women, enjoying Mustangs, Porsches, Corvettes, Chargers, Cherokee SRTs, rock & roll, the blues, and a coterie of ex-wives. He finally decided “4ZNUF” and stuck to the music and cars with more success. (With the notable exception of that damned Vette!)

And he loved the company of his friends. Anybody with a free weekend evening could always count on loud tunes, bawdy jokes and tequila at his house. Halloween parties were not to be missed!

After 30-years working for his Uncle Phil, Butch looked forward to an early retirement and hi jinx with his fellow boating and Harley enthusiasts. His dreams of the open road, however, were curtailed by becoming one of the few people in history to be run over by a boat while riding his Hog. Though the broken leg was never the same, his good humor was unbroken.

Ever curious, Butch never missed an opportunity to indulge his spiritual side and admired the efgorts of any who encouraged inner exploration, pondered the unknowns of the cosmos (“I’m not saying it’s aliens, buut…!”), and wove deeper human connections to mysteries of life and the universe.
Butch was probably the only Unit Manager at his company whose suit breast pocket included a Shaman’s bag for helping people find their path, truth, and purpose.

His loss is made all the more difficult because some of us had to think he was invincible! Certainly after bouts with the aforementioned boat, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Bell’s palsy, skin cancer, bladder cancer and COPD, most of us would be willing to lay down our cards and step away from the table. But not Butch. Through it all he maintained stoic equanimity and beat them all!

Well, almost all. We probably should’ve sensed the end was nigh when Butch swapped his Dodge Challenger Super Bee for a Toyota RAV4. A fine car, sure, but he never did get used to the gutless horn in the RAV.

In the end, Our Hero couldn’t topple the ravages of metastatic lung cancer, and he knew it was time to see which of the metaphysicists, shamans, teachers and fellow students was right about what lies beyond the veil. He died peacefully, feeling the presence of every friend and loved one near and far, past and future.

Butch liked to say, “The truth will set you free.” The truth is, he was loved by most. And those that looked beyond the gruff-looking shell were rewarded greatly by a generous, giving heart. Butch collected family (and his friends WERE family) from all walks of life. He was a common denominator of goodness with a penchant for finding excellent people, whisky and tequila. The void Butch leaves is filled by the love of those he left behind and their love for each other.

Butch is survived by his loving sister Jacqueline, his nephew Mitch Hall, his nephew Pearce Cobarr and his children, and other distant family. He is predeceased by his little sister Suzanne and dear parents Eldon Ransom and Elna Maxine Smith.

A celebration of life will be scheduled once his family recovers from what can only be described as a truly godawful couple of weeks. But feel free to celebrate ahead of that time, Butch would like that, and who doesn’t need more parties?

If you would like to honor Butch’s legacy of love and kindness, he routinely gave to a great many charities covering veterans issues, cancer research and other health initiatives, wildlife and natural resources organizations, and Native American education and advancement. Just pick good ones and enjoy the karma.

https://www.rill.com/obituaries/Eldon-Smith-6/#!/Obituary