Charles A. Smith III, age 85 of Helena

 Charles Adam Smith III (Chuck), Attorney, passed away on February 20^th, 2021 at the age of 85.  He was born September 27^th, 1935 in Havre, Montana to Charles and Virginia Smith Jr., lifelong residents of Harlem, MT.  Chuck attended grade school in Harlem, where he spoke often about packing his .410 shot gun and cocker spaniel to school so he could hunt birds on his way home.  In high school, he attended Shattuck Military School, in Faribault Minnesota, where he was a successful wrestler and graduated in 1953.

Upon graduation, Chuck was nominated to the US Naval Academy by U.S. Senator James E. Murray but decided not to show up.  Instead, as he put it “I high tailed it to California for some fun in the sun”, enrolling in Claremont Men’s College where he studied for just over a year.  Having had his fun, Chuck enrolled in the U.S. Army in 1955, deploying to Iceland for a year with the 2^nd Battalion Combat Team.  Chuck proudly spent his remaining enlistment as a paratrooper with the 101^st Airborne Division, 1^st Airborne Battle Group, 506^th Infantry at Fort Campbell, KY.

After serving with the 101^st, Chuck returned to college, attending University of Montana (U of M) where he earned degrees in Political Science and History in 1961.  He went on to earn his Law Degree from the U of M Law School in 1964.  During this time he met Sandra Sandy-Smith, whom he remained married to for 20 years and had two children.

Chuck moved to Helena in 1964 and started his law profession as an associate attorney with the law firm of Loble & Picotte.  After several years as an associate attorney, Chuck realized that he needed to be his own boss and struck out to form the Law Offices of Smith & Harper, which stayed intact for over 20 years.  Chuck worked at his private law practice for 56 years in Helena, right up to the day he passed away.  He was appointed attorney for the Montana Aeronautics Commission, Montana Highway Patrol, and Montana State Tax Appeal Board over the span of his career.  The Montana State Bar recognized him in 2014 for 50 years of membership.  He was honored to have presented oral argument in front of the U.S. 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C.  Over his 56 years of practice his most profound accomplishment was handling defective products cases against Sturm and Ruger in the 80’s, which resulted in national safety mechanism retrofits.

Chuck’s main passions in life consisted of Grizzly Football, sports fishing, bird hunting, and most of all, his many black labs.  Chuck was not shy to say he earned his stripes as a Griz fan back in the early 60s, when the stands were rickety wood and it wasn’t cool or fashionable, and so he relished in the programs later successes.  Chuck was an avid fisherman, whether it was fly casting on the Big Hole or long range outings on the Pacific, he made sure he experienced as much as he could.  Chuck was also an accomplished private pilot, logging thousands of hours in his Cessna 210 and later his Beechcraft V35.  He flew multiple times to Mexico and Alaska for fishing and made annual trips to South Dakota for pheasant hunts.  Above all else, Chuck lived life his own way, right up to his last day, and experienced most if not all the things he lived for in life.

“CURAHEE, CURAHEE” Dad, let’s give it a “GO GRIZ!” one last time, winds are calm and your number one for final takeoff –Godspeed and may you have swift tail winds aloft to lift you to the heavens – roger that, 7438 ECHO out.

Chuck is preceded in death by his parents, Charles Jr. and Virginia Smith, and his sister Barbara Smith–Burgett.  He is survived by his three best friends, black labs Doc, Cody, and Sailor; two children, his daughter, Linda Smith-Jahr (Rich) of Dallas, and his son, Charles A. Smith IV (Shannon) of Helena; Five Grandchildren, Meghan Jahr and Caroline Jahr of Dallas, and Preslie Smith, Charlie Smith, and Paislie Smith all of Helena.   Interment with military honors will take place at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Ft Harrison, MT, at a future date that will be announced.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Lewis and Clark Humane Society, 2112 E Custer Ave, Helena, MT 59602, or the Montana State Veteran’s Cemetery, Fort Harrison, MT, 1900 Williams St, Helena, MT 59602.

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