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May 21-1925-March 31, 2021
Kenneth "Ken" Archi-
bald Smith, 95, Minot,
died Wednesday, March
31, 2021, in a Minot Hos-
pital.
Ken was born May 21,
1925, at Avonlea,
Saskatchewan, Canada
the son of Archibald and
Edna (Campbell) Smith.
He was raised and educat-ed in Avonlea and gra-
duated from Avonlea
High School in 1943. He
moved to Minot in 1946
and owned and operated
Granite Springs Water
Company with his broth-
er, Wayne. In 1951, he
was drafted into the U.S.
Army and honorably
served his country until
1953. He returned to
Minot, where he contin-
ued with Granite Springs
until the business was
sold in 1955.
In 1956, Ken and
Wayne built Ken-Way
Motel, which they operat-ed until 1962. They then
owned and operated the
Dairy Queen franchise in
Ward County, until they
sold the franchise rights
in 1969. Ken began em-
ployment with the Great
Northern Railroad in 1966
and continued to work
there as a clerk until he
retired in 1986.
Ken was united in mar-
riage to Shirley Cox in
1976. They continued to
live in Minot. Shirley died
in September of 2001. Ken
was most recently a
resident at The View in
Minot.
Ken was a member of
Immanuel Baptist Church
in Minot. He was a former
member of St. Mark's
Presbyterian Church in
Hudson, FL. He was a
longtime member of the
Minot Curling Club and
was well known
throughout the state for
curling in bonspiels. Ken
was proud to have
represented North Dakota
in the First National Cur-
ling Championship held
in Chicago in 1957. He
was a former member of
the VFW Post #753,
American Legion Post
#26 and Brotherhood of
Railway Clerks and
Steamship Union.
Ken enjoyed golfing,
curling, traveling and
spent a number of winters
in Arizona and Florida.
His loving family in-
cludes: nephew, Kelby
(Cyndy) Smith of Minot
and grandson, Kyson.
Ken was preceded in
death by: his parents;
wife, Shirley; brother,
Wayne and nephew,
Kevin "Otto" Smith.
Celebration of Life ser-
vice: Monday, April 5,
2021 at 11:00 a.m. in Im-
manuel Baptist Church,
Minot. Inter-
ment: Rosehill Memorial
Park, Minot with Military
Honors by the ND Army
National Guard and Minot
American Legion.
Visitation: Sunday,
April 4, 2021 from
3:00-5:00 p.m. in Thomas
Family Funeral Home,
Minot.
Memorials: preferred
to Immanuel Baptist
Church, Minot.
Those wishing to sign
the online memorial regis-
ter or share memories are
invited to use the expres-
sions of sympathy section
at www.thomasfamily
funeralhome.com.