Donnie Leroy Smith, 46, passed away April 4th, 2018 near Nunn, Colorado. Donnie was born in Laramie, Wyoming May 23rd, 1971 to Donald and Jane Smith. He graduated from Laramie High School in 1990. Donnie lived most of his adult life in Laramie.
He started his career in his early 20’s in the oil field industry and later became a directional driller.
Donnie was an avid motorcyclist, taking many long trips on his Harley with family and friends. He instilled a great passion for riding and racing dirt bikes in his children and grandchildren. He loved snowmobiling, often spending winter weekends in the mountains with his family. Donnie was very mechanically inclined, a true motorhead, who thoroughly enjoyed working with his hands. Donnie was a deeply loving and caring person. He was very devoted to his family and a great friend to many.
Donnie is preceded in death by his father; his grandparents, Leroy and Muriel Smith and Ernest Lentz; his uncle Blake Lentz; his aunt Celia Ussery; and his cousin, Daniel Silva.
Donnie is survived by his partner, Cyndil Hall; his mother, Jane and stepfather, Billy Gonzales; sisters, Micki Wypyszinski (Pete) and family, Jaimee Bridge (Craig) and family; stepsister, Diane Weller (Jordie) and family; stepbrother, David Gonzales (Jeri) and family; sons, B.J. Buckendorf (Jodi), Allen Buckendorf (Bonnie), Dominic Vigil; and daughter, Jaci Williams (Todd); grandchildren, Savanna Buckendorf, Salena Gaona, Grady, Shalynn and Tristin Buckendorf, Rachel, Tyson and Ross Montano, Clayton, Coalten, Mellary, and Kameron Williams, Caleb Bell, and Eliannah Vigil. He is also survived by his aunts, Diana Jackson (John) of Idaho, Connie Silva; uncle, Smiley Lentz; his grandmother, Ruthanna Lentz all of Laramie; and his numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday, April 13th at the First Christian Church, 2130 E Garfield St.
Visitation will be held 5:00-7:00 p.m. Thursday, April 12, 2018 at Montgomery-Stryker Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions may be made in Donnie’s name to a charity of your choice.
Jane and family, Marj and I are so sorry for your loss. We will keep you in our prayers and hearts. It is so very hard to lose a child, they are not supposed to go before us. Treasure all the good memories and trust in the solace of our Lord.
I wanted to express my heartfelt condolences to all of Donnie’s family. For right now, there’s no detour around grief, no shortcut through mourning. However, 2 Cor.4:7 says that God can give us, “... power beyond what is normal “, to go from one day to the next. This does not mean that we no longer cry or that we forget. It means we recover. We recover because of our hope. Jesus Christ talked about our hope in John 5:28 which says, “... all those in the memorial tomb will hear his voice and come out “. Jesus was referring to the resurrection. That is our amazing hope! The Bible likens our hope to an anchor. Just like an anchor stabilizes a ship, our hope stabilizes us and keeps us from drowning in overwhelming sadness. 2 Cor.1:3 describes our Creator as, “... the God of all comfort “. One way that God comforts us is by moving people who care about us to give us words of encouragement that we need to hear. May the God of comfort be your comfort now, during this time of sorrow. For the Bible’s answers to life’s big questions please visit JW.org.
Dear Jane, I am so sorry to hear about Donnie. My condolences to you and your family. Sandy Ksir
Donnie and I never had a bad time together. He was warm, funny and caring. He loved showing my children a great time anytime we were all together and I will cherish those memories. I will miss him dearly and think of him often. Right now the thought of Wyoming doesn't make sense to me without him in it. All of my love to his mom, sister and family.
Dear Micki and family, We are so very sorry for your loss. We pray for you that God will give you all comfort and peace in the days ahead. Love, Brian and Barb
Janie and Family, I am so very sorry to hear of your loss, you are in my thoughts and prayers!
Dearest Jane, our hearts are breaking for you and your families. We were so sorry to hear of your loss of Donnie. There are no works other than our hearts are breaking for you. No one should ever have to go through a loss of any kind let alone a son. Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with you always. Sincerely Mary & Bobby Cochran
Jane our thoughts and prayers are with you- angel hugs
My sincerest sympathies to Jane and family on the loss of your son, Donnie. I always enjoyed my visits with Donnie. He had a great sense of humor. I enjoyed his stories about his directional drilling job. It was interesting to learn about the job he did and enjoyed so much. Love to each of you. June Allen
We are so terribly sorry for the loss of your precious son, Donnie. Bright Blessings, Donnie. Love and comfort to Jane, Billy & family, Sandy W. & Jim F.
Donny was a good friend of mine. We drove to Minnesota together to pick up Donny's 1967 Ford Cougar. The pick up that we pulled the Cougar with broke down probably three times on the way! We managed to fix it and we were broke by the time we made it back to Laramie, but we made it and what a great trip. I will miss Donny, I am really sad to hear about your loss.
I’m so sorry for such a huge loss. I am praying that Gods presence is felt strongly among family and friends and that through tragedy, others will be able to find the peace and comfort that only Jesus can offer in times like these. Love, Marcy Lundberg Moore
Jane and family, skippy,the boys and I were so sorry to hear about donnies passing. He was a good friend and always made us smile. We will miss him. Love the knisleys
Jane and family, Barry and I were shocked when reading the Sunday paper this morning. Losing a child no matter how old is such a tragedy for a parent and our thoughts are with you. Just thinking how you must feel brings tears to my eyes. You have our most sincere sympathy and prayers. May you have some solace in his memories . With much love, Lynn Broughton and Barry Matlack
Donnie was one of a kind. I enjoyed directional drilling with him. He became like my little brother. He will be sadly missed by many. Rest in peace my friend.
Jane and Family....we are so sorry to learn of the death of Donnie. Our most sincere condolences. It is so unfair when a parent has to bury a child. May you find comfort in the memories of the life that he lived. May he rest in peace.
Donnie was a very dear friend who I consider to be a brother. I thought very highly of him. He would do anything for you, most the time you didn't even have to ask him for help. He just showed up at the right time and gave a helping hand! A very kind hearted friend! A great friend! My thoughts and prayers are with his family. I will miss our days of skipping work to jump on our Harley's and get some wind in our face. The days of hanging out at my shop talking about our bikes, working on them or better yet drag racing each other. He always beat me!! I will miss you brother!! Guy H.