Robert "Dusty" Smith

Robert (Dusty) Justus Smith (age 81) passed away on April 17th, 2025, with his wife (Linda Eveland) and son (Rick Smith) by his side. He was born to his parents Harvey and Loucile on March 17th, 1944, in Longview, Texas, on his family farm. In his family, he was the youngest of eight children.

He moved to Backus, Minnesota at age 12 where he later graduated from Backus High School and at 16 asked Jesus to be his Savior and save him from his sins. He married his high school sweetheart, Linda Smith, and they walked faithfully by each other's side for 62 years. Together they raised their three boys (Rick, Ron, and Regan) in Buffalo, MN. He served his country in the United States Army from 1966-1969. Spending the majority of his service in Alaska. After his service, he graduated from electronic school in Mankato, MN and worked for Xerox for 32 years. Robert retired to Backus, MN on Pine Mountain Lake for three days and then jumped back into the workforce at Northland Septic Maintenance.

Robert’s interests and hobbies were wide-ranging - he was a multi-talented man. It brought him great joy to invest in others, especially those who were a little rough around the edges and needed a patient hand to bring out the beauty underneath, just like so many had done for him when he was growing up.

He co-founded the Maple Lake Royal Rangers program for boys, using God’s creation to teach boys how to be men through outdoor activities like camping, knot tying, and survival skills. In the same vein, he and his sons, Rick and Ron were members of the Frontiersman Camping Fraternity (FCF), laying the foundation for what would become a Smith family tradition of raising up godly men.

Robert loved his Savior, Jesus, and was an unashamed workman for Christ in everything he did. He sang in the men’s quartet at church, despite not knowing how to read sheet music, and was a decades-long volunteer for AWANA programs.

The Smiths were an artistic family, and Robert expressed that in his woodworking. One of his first times carving was in sixth grade art class, where he caught the eye of his future wife, Linda. They’d each been handed a bar of soap, and while Linda had whittled the square into a simple TV, Robert carved out a detailed recreation of a scene from Lady And The Tramp. His home was full of beautifully crafted wooden cowboys, horses, figurines, and forest scenes, and each of his grandchildren are the proud owners of specially made family crests that Robert designed himself.

Through his friends, Floyd and Amy Dauber, Robert began taking part in short term missions trips to South America, specifically Colombia and Ecuador. He got to serve the Lord and the locals by putting his construction skills to use building churches from the ground up, but more importantly, they forged Christian friendships that crossed both oceans and language barriers.

He loved chopping and milling wood, driving big trucks and running machines, and going on winding drives on his property with his wife in their mini truck. He loved fishing for walleye in Canada with his buddies and catching sunnies with his grandkids on their old pontoon. He loved working at Northland Septic for his son, Rick. Most of all, he loved being with his family. He was happy to roast hot dogs and laugh around the campfire, lead his grandkids in quests to pick up sticks, cheer at sporting events, celebrate every birthday, tell highly detailed stories, working alongside his sons, and hosting his family every Sunday after church for a meal, which gave him the opportunity to do what he loved most - taking his wife by the hand and praying a blessing over the meal and the many generations that were gathered around.

He is now reunited in heaven with his parents, siblings, son Ryan and the little ones he never got to hold on Earth.

He is survived by his wife Linda; three sons, Rick (Brenda), Ron (Nan), and Regan (Rachel); ten grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; sisters JoAnn Burns and Lala (Ivan) Fisher; and a host of nieces and nephews

A service will be held at 2 PM on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at Mildred Bible Chapel in Backus, MN.