Millers Falls, MA – Denton (Skip) J. Smith, III
Born June 3, 1936 died on February 7, 2026, at home after a long illness.
Skip was born in Greenfield, Mass, where his parents worked at Turnbull’s Sunny Farms, then opened their own popular restaurant, the Sandwich Shoppe, on Federal Street. He graduated from Greenfield High School and spent a number of years after high school traveling and living in California and Florida. He met his wife, Marsha, after returning to Greenfield, and they were married in 1966.
For most of his working life, Skip worked as a mechanic at Sweeney Ford in Greenfield. He had a lifelong passion for cars and motorcycles, carpentry, the music of Beethoven, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, and chocolate chip ice cream. He and Marsha built their own home in Millers Falls in the late 1970s, installing solar hot water and using many of the green technologies available at that time, and they continued to be inspired by and often were early adopters of energy-efficient technology. He was delighted to live surrounded by woodlands, and on any given weekend, would have been found gardening, cutting wood for the woodstove, or moving brush around with the tractor; or, if there was time, hiking, bicycling, sailing, or cross-country skiing. At times, he worked on the backstage crew for the Valley Light Opera (in the 1980s) and Welcome, Yule! at the Shea Theater (in the 1990s and 2000s).
Skip loved being around people and could easily turn a few errands into an entire afternoon of socializing with everyone he came across. There was a sense of quiet mischief around him, and he was always ready to laugh with anyone. This is a quality that he never lost, even during the worst of his battle with dementia.
Skip is survived by his wife, Marsha (Jalicki) Smith, his daughter, Elizabeth Smith (Thomas Massa), of Millers Falls, Massachusetts, and his grandchild, Granger Smith-Massa, of Millers Falls. He was predeceased by his sister, Delene (DeeDee) Smith Evans Rieker, his mother, Marion (Gracie) Smith, and his father, Denton Smith, Jr.
A celebration of Skip’s life will be held on Saturday, June 6. For more information, please see the website www.InMemoryofDJS3.wordpress.com
Memorial contributions can be made to the Neurology Department at Dartmouth Hitchcock, for Epilepsy research or their Alzheimer’s fund, Mt. Grace Land Trust, the Arbor Day Foundation, or the Dakin Humane Society.
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