Jerome "Jerry" W. Smyle, 82, of Scranton, ND, passed away on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at the Fallon County Medical Complex in Baker, MT.

Mass of Christian Burial will be on Friday, April 1, 2022 at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Scranton at 11:00am Fr. Obotama will celebrate the Mass with burial to follow in the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Scranton.  There will be a Rosary and Vigil Service on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church beginning at 7:00 p.m.  Visitation for Jerry will be on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at the Krebsbach and Kulseth Funeral Home Chapel from 12-3.

FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE LIVE STREAMED ON ANNETTE KRINKE'S FACEBOOK PAGE.  We will go live at 10:45.

Jerry Smyle, 82, died peacefully surrounded by his wife and all his children on March 27, 2022 and is now in the arms of our loving Lord Jesus Christ.  Finally free of the orthopedic pain that has affected him for years, he is enjoying a spirited game of cards with his parents and sisters.  He has a tee time with Leo scheduled for later this afternoon.

Jerry was born August 13, 1939 to Kate and Frank Smyle of Reeder, ND.  He was the third child and oldest son with older sisters Yvonne and Ilene and younger siblings Pete, Evelyn, Sharon, JoAnn and Frank Jr.  They all grew up on the family farm south of Reeder near the Grand River.  He attended elementary school at the Lightning Creek school house.  He attended Reeder High School for two years because his older sisters were going to school there.   He then transferred to and graduated from Reeder High School in 1957.

He joined the Air Force in June, 1957.   After being stationed in Miles City, MT he met the love of his life in September, 1960. A pretty young gal, Joanne Chiesa, asked him to attend his friend's birthday party.  They were immediately smitten with each other.  They dated for just three months and were married on December 30, 1960 and have been inseparable since.

After getting married Jerry left the service and they moved to Bowman, ND.  For a short while they lived in Belle Fourche, SD where he went to work for his high school buddy, Bob Dacar, driving a bentonite truck.  There they were soon blessed with the birth of their first child, Annette.  Later they moved to Reeder where he worked at the gas station and set pins at the bowling alley in the evenings.  Shortly after that they moved to Spokane, WA where his older sister, Yvonne, was living.  He had a job detailing cars and a friend of his introduced him to Bert Miles who asked him if he wanted to learn a trade.  So the family of three packed up and moved to Redding, CA where Jerry learned the trade of laying floors from the man whobecame a father figure to him.  While in Redding, Jerry and Joanne were blessed with a second child whom they named after both of his grandfathers, Frank Jonathan.  This new trade led Jerry to move to southern CA where there was a lot of union work for floor layers.  In Anaheim, Jerry and Joanne were blessed with their last child, Jerry II.

Work would take them back to northern CA before they finally relocated to Scranton, ND to be closer to family.  He then went into business with his brother-in-law, Gary Symanowski,operating S & S Construction.  Jerry and Joanne lived in Scranton where they built the family home and raised their children.  When his body could no longer tolerate the rigorous demand of floor laying and carpentry work, Jerry went to work for the Scranton Equity.   He managed the Fertilizer Plant for many years and retired in 1999.

Jerry loved a variety of activities that were shared with family and friends.  While in CA, they enjoyed many family camping and fishing trips to the coast, Shasta Dam, Crater Lake and the Sacramento River. Jerry enjoyed hunting deer with his friend,Tom. While in ND, he continued to enjoy fishing but took up the sport of golf. This led to a family activity that was routinely enjoyed as Jerry enjoyed playing with his boys and wife.  Jerry and Joanne enjoyed many years of couples golf and, of course,Jerry enjoyed many years of men's golf with his regular golf partner, Kenny Steiner.  He was an avid sports fan and you could find him in the bleachers or on the sidelines, supporting his boysat their basketball and football games.   Jerry and his group of friends attended the Class B Boy's State basketball tournamentfor years.  This weekend always included some poker playing! Jerry was a master card player and also enjoyed gambling and loved a trip to Deadwood and the occasional Texas Hold'em tourney. Occasionally he would end up at the same tournament as his grandson, Austin! With the history of growing up on the farm one of Jerry's favorite pastimes was traveling around the countryside looking at the crops.  He especially enjoyed the opportunity to jump in the combine with his son-in-law, Bryan,during harvest and spend some quality time.

The activities that Jerry held dearest in life were related tofamily time.  You could find the Smyle family together most Sundays after church at the family farm or at Grandma Kate's house in Reeder.  The favorite Smyle activity would have to be a competitive game of cards and Jerry was among the best!  He was ruthless and maybe taught us all a lot by not letting us win! Jerry was most proud of his children, grand-children and great grand-children. He attended countless high school and college athletic and music events.

Jerry was active in the community.  He helped in the development and building of the Scranton golf course and club house and the Reeder golf course club house. He and Joanne were active members of Sacred Heart Church.  He was instrumental in the development and building of the Scranton Clinic and was the President of the board for 20 years.  He was also involved in the American Legion and a lifetime Elksmember.

He was preceded in death by his parents Kate and Frank Smyle; father-in-law John Chiesa; sister Sharon Steiner and sister Jo Ann Ledeman.

He is survived by his wife of 61 years Joanne Smyle; daughter Annette (Bryan) Krinke and grandson Austin (Jamie) Krinke; granddaughter Tiffany (Derrik) Krumm; granddaughter Chloe Krinke (fiancé Dustin Snyder); son Frank (Sheila) Smyle and granddaughter Madison; son Jerry (Debra) Smyle and grandchildren Conner, Jacob and McKenna.  He is also survived by four great grand-children Layla and Eli (Krinke) as well as Eleanor and Iris (Krumm); his sisters Yvonne Moen, Ilene Dobner and Evelyn (Gary) Symanowski; his brothers Peter (Betty) Smyle, Frank Jr. Smyle, brother-in-law Ken Steiner; sister-in-law Sharon Chiesa; and many nieces and nephews.