WILLIAM  R.  "Bill" SMITH , 72, of Aurelia, Iowa, passed away Monday, January 30, 2023 at his residence in Aurelia, Iowa.

A Celebration of Life for Bill Smith will be held on Saturday, March 25 ^th at The Grainery Lodge, rural Cherokee, Iowa.  Come & Go from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. BBQ and Beverages will be provided. People are welcome to bring a dessert and/or side dish to share. The Boothby Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Bill was born on June 6, 1950 at Cherokee, Iowa to Joseph Ray & Marie (Anderson) Smith. He grew up on the farm and graduated from Cherokee Washington High School in 1968. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1973 with an Industrial Education Degree.

Bill was married to Anne Calhoun on November 28, 1975 at the First Baptist Church in Sioux City , Iowa. He owned and operated his own construction company, Smith Productions Ltd. for 40 years and was a lifetime farmer. Throughout his construction career, he regularly left his mark on the community by constructing scores of new custom homes and agricultural buildings, including at least 13 geodesic domes and 6 underground homes. He was a lifelong resident of Cherokee County.

He enjoyed skiing, trap shooting, collecting cars, and woodworking in his spare time.  Ever the automotive enthusiast he enjoyed driving, restoring, repairing, and collecting cars.  He regularly attended many car shows bringing home dozens of trophies and was a student of Skip Barber Racing School.  Bill enjoyed exploring the outdoors with his family and friends, becoming a sponsor of Pheasants Forever, and NWTF for many years and was supportive of his children learning to shoot trap competitively to help jump start the founding of the Aurelia High School Trap Team.  Skiing is a sport which brought the entire Smith family together and is enjoyed by all.  After working hard the rest of the year, winter was a time for playing hard and regular family ski trips were often on the agenda.  Bill skied on Iowa State's Ski Race Team in college. He and his wife were Ski Patrol at Cherokee's Sunset Ski area and taught all of his children to ski from a young age.  Even after becoming a double below-knee amputee, he was still determined to keep skiing through adaptive means.

He was preceded in death by his parents, father-in-law Paul Calhoun; brother-in-law Darrel Moller and a sister-in-law Judy Smith.

He is survived by his wife, Anne of Aurelia, Iowa; three children: Alissa (David) Carter of Blacksburg, Virginia; Weston (Anna) Smith of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Wm. Beckett Smith of Aurelia, Iowa; two grandchildren: Axel and Addi Smith; his siblings: Phyllis (Ross) Rekemeyer of Albia, Iowa; Wanda Moller of Cherokee, Iowa; Joseph G. Smith of Tucson, Arizona; Lowell (Paula) Smith of Aurelia, Iowa; Hallie (Kevin) Dessel of Cherokee, Iowa; mother-in-law, Katherine Calhoun of Sioux City, Iowa; brothers-in-law, George (Michelle) Calhoun of Ayer, Massachusetts and Chaz (Jean) Calhoun of Tomah, Wisconsin; also several nieces and nephews and cousins.