Patricia June (Hunter) Smith

Patricia June (Hunter) Smith peacefully passed away at St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Wash., Oct. 22, 2020, at the age of 85. She was born to Willard Lee and Gertrude (Gilbert) Hunter in Shelton, Wash.

Pat graduated from Irene S. Reed High School in 1953, and attended business school in Olympia, Wash. She married Kenneth E. Smith in November of 1954. They made their home in Shelton, where Pat worked as a teller at Seattle First National Bank before moving their family to Morton, Wash., in the mid 1960s. She worked for Gene Peters Logging throughout the 1970s, where she was fondly referred to as “Bookie”. During the 1980s, she worked as the bookkeeper for the Morton Moose Lodge.

She attempted to retire in the 1990s, but was asked to share her talent for baking at Cody Café in Morton, where her pies and cinnamon rolls drew travelers from all over the Pacific Northwest. After her husband’s death in 1996, Pat moved with her eldest daughter to Napavine, Wash., where she found herself returning to her office skills with Lewis County Community Development and Lewis County Solid Waste before officially retiring in 2018. She enjoyed spending her free time with family and traveling to destinations throughout the United States, including many trips to her beloved Hawaiian Islands.

Pat was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ken; her son, Matthew; grandson, Ryan; brother, George L. Hunter; and sister, Karlee J. (Hunter) Kennedy.

She is survived by her four children and their spouses, Lauren Bridges (Rocky), Lynn Axt (Ron), Tod Smith (Ann), and Leanne Semanko (Randy); 11 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Lois Hunter; and numerous nieces; nephews; and dear friends.

A celebration of Pat’s life will be held at a later date when it is deemed safe to gather. In her honor, the family requests donations to her favorite charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.