Mahlon B. Smith, 87, of Bowman, ND, passed away on August 18, 2024 at the Sandford Medical Center in Bismarck.

Funeral Services for Mahlon will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2024 at the Bowman Methodist Church at 1:00pm.  Chaplain Dan Sweeney will officiate the services with the burial to be held on Monday, August 26, 2024 at the Wheatland Cemetery, Wheatland, ND at 11:00 am CST.  There will be a Family and Friends Service on Friday, August 23, 2004 at the Bowman Methodist Church beginning at 7:00 pm.  Visitation for Mahlon will be on Friday, August 23, 2024 from 12-5 at the Krebsbach and Kulseth Funeral Home Chapel and from 6-9 at the Bowman Methodist Church.

Services will be live streamed at this link

https://www.facebook.com/bowmanmchurch?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Mahlon Bernell Smith, 87, of Bowman, ND, passed away in the early morning hours of August 18th, 2024, at Sanford Medical Center in Bismarck, ND.

Mahlon was the sixth of eight children born to Harry G. and Lucille (Scott) Smith of Wheatland, ND. He grew up on the family farm with his six brothers: Marvin, Melvin, Marlow, Milton, Merlon, Manard, and a sister, Mavis. He attended school in Wheatland and, after graduating in 1954, proudly served his country by enlisting in the U.S. Army. After an honorable discharge, he returned home to marry his high school sweetheart Yvonne Hansen of Absaraka, ND, on September 25th, 1956, in a small ceremony at Plymouth Congregational Church in Fargo, ND. To this union were born four children: Cathy, Dawn, Mahlon Jr., and Milo.

Mahlon worked at various occupations until he found his calling while working for General Diesel Equipment in West Fargo, ND, where he started his life's work as a self-taught diesel mechanic. His occupation brought him across the state in the '70s to Bismarck, ND, where he started Central Dakota Equipment. He eventually made his way to Bowman, ND, in the late '70s, working out of his truck and basing at Miller Construction of Bowman. He and Yvonne opened Mahlon Smith Repair in 1986, with Mahlon running the shop and Yvonne as the secretary and bookkeeper.

He lost his wife, Yvonne, to cancer in early 1998, but was blessed to find love again with Laurie Hede. They married on December 1st, 2001 in Bowman. With this union, the family grew to include two daughters, Denise and Kate.

Mahlon and Laurie worked well as a team, running Smith Repair until he retired and sold the shop and its contents. Mahlon didn't take well to retirement and kept working, doing the occasional mechanic job out of his white S-10 pickup up to the time of his death. Mahlon also stayed busy working around the house, taking on various home improvement projects. He cared for the birds Laurie loved with his many feeders, always keeping them topped off with seed. He also helped Laurie rescue and re-home many homeless cats and kittens, building outdoor shelters and heated cat condos for the occasional outdoor cat that adopted the Smiths. Meowser's Cat Rescue became very close to his heart in recent years. Mahlon loved the outdoors, and enjoyed camping. He also loved to spend time with his grandchildren. Mahlon was a faithful member of his church, strong in his love of God. He enjoyed cards with his coffee friends at the Travel Center, watching his beloved westerns and Fox News on TV, and working on home projects. He was a natural MacGyver, always saying, "Give me a minute, and I'll invent something." He always came up with a solution to any problem asked of him. The family didn't need Google, we had him.

Mahlon will be greatly missed by Laurie, his wife of over 22 years, his children; Cathy Orcutt, Mike (Danielle), Kristy (Aaron), and Brandon (Summer); Dawn (Jeff) Lutes, Derek (Maggie), Danton, Jestin (Katie), and Jerren (Cassie); Mahlon (Jayne) Smith, Jorey (Sarah) Olson, Brayden (Tammy), and Ayden; Milo (Fawn) Smith, Carolyn and Mason; Denise (Jay) Tiedemann, Joey (Laredo) Hanse, Macie, Sunny, Micki, Kit, and Holly; Kate (Ryan) Foust, and his great-grandchildren; Aubreyanah, Jocelyn, Julianna, Clara, Emmett, Lily, and Willa. He also leaves behind his sister, Mavis Hanson, his brother and sister-in-law, Manard and Judy Smith, his sister-in-law, Betty Minnehan, and his mother-in-law, Betty Miller.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Yvonne, his parents, Harry and Lucille, his brothers; Marvin, Melvin, Marlow, Milton and Merlon, and his sisters-in-law Phylis, Marilyn, Elayne, Ange, and Maggie, his brother-in-law Charles "Chuck" Hanson, son-in-law Gary Orcutt, nephews Tony, Steve, and Dale, and great-niece Samantha.