Glenn Smith

Glenn Bryant Smith, beloved husband of Shirley Smith, passed away peacefully at their home in Bozeman, MT on Monday May 23rd. Glenn and Shirley were together for 34 years and Montana residents since 2004. Both have been active parts of the Bozeman and Willow Creek communities. Glenn was born in Berkeley CA on October 27, 1926. He grew up in Menlo Park CA, served in the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific at the end of WWII and graduated from the College of the Pacific in Stockton CA in 1950. He entered the insurance business in San Francisco and had a long and successful career as an insurance executive. He worked for Crown Life Insurance of Canda for over 23 years and managed a large west coast operation. His insurance career allowed him and his family to travel to Europe, Canada and many other places in the western hemisphere.



In 1956 Glenn and his wife Joan moved to Larkspur, CA and built a house at the end of Olive Street. He had among many talents a menu of building and construction skills, a very strong work ethic and came from a family of builders and construction trades. His father Harold Smith was a Dinwidde Construction executive during WW2 and his brother Don is an accomplished architect. Glenn's children (Brian and Shelly) were fortunate enough to grow up in Larkspur and Marin County CA. Glenn was active and well respected in the Larkspur community. He retired from Crown Life in 1982, and then took on a second career working with, teaching and helping students in their education. In 1986, Glenn co-founded and became part of the teaching faculty of the Real School in Corte Madera, CA. He began what would be a legacy of reaching out and making a difference in the lives of young students. Glenn and his wife Shirley lived in Larkspur, San Francisco and later in Clearwater, Florida They traveled extensively, enjoyed camping and the outdoors and spent much of their time and energy on volunteering and on other civic causes. Glenn, throughout his life, was also an accomplished swimmer. During the summer of 2003 they both took seasonal jobs at the Hamilton Store in Yellowstone National Park (Mammoth Hot Springs) and they moved to Montana in 2004. They were featured in an article in the Bozeman Chronicle in 2006 for their work as foster grandparents and their mentoring of students at the Willow Creek School. Glenn and Shirley continued this work with students in the Bozeman, MT schools.



Glenn was an accomplished and life-long piano player. He was a student of modern jazz and would find opportunties to play on any vacant piano he could find. In San Francisco, he would play at the Mark Hopkins Hotel when the regular piano player was on a break. After moving to Montana, he played regularly in the Gallatin Valley. He performed regular gigs (as he called them) at events and at various senior centers. His piano playing captured the essence of the 1940s and 1950s music style. He leaves a legacy of friends and people whose lives he has touched through his compassion and generosity. An insurance executive, he advocated for and sponsored employees who were foreign nationals. Absent Glenn's work on their behalf they would not have had the opportunity to come to America, succeed and naturalize as US citizens. When his boyhood friend, Jerry Bentley was starting the Orange Torpedo river rafting company in Oregon in 1970, Glenn rallied his friends and colleagues to generate enough business to help what became a very successful enterprise.



Glenn had the tremendous capacity to see what was good and possible in people, to lend support and to inspire them. His generosity in the giving of himself and his energy to others was a central part of his character. He leaves behind a large number of friends and family who are better for having Glenn as a part of their lives. He will be greatly missed by all.



Glenn is survived by his wife Shirley, his children Shelly and Brian, his grandchildren Tim, Becky and Courtney, his brother Don and sister Beverly, and a host of other relatives and friends whose lives he will always be a part of. There will be a memorial service for Glenn at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bozeman, MT and a family and friend celebration of life in Palo Alto, CA later this summer.