Doris Mercedes Tanner Smith passed away peacefully late Sunday evening, January 31st, 2016, at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, at the age of 97.

Doris was born in Bancroft, Idaho, on September 20th, 1918, the third child of Mercedes "Merzie" Mabel Lewis Tanner and Loren Tanner.  Her parents divorced when she was three years-old.  Her mother then re-married James Alfred Olson; her father eventually re-married Annie J. Olsen.  She grew up learning to work hard on their small family farms as she helped the growing family survive in the North Ucon, East Rigby, and Annis areas.  She rode horse-drawn school wagons (and sleighs in the winter), eight miles to Fairview Elementary school, and Rigby Jr. High School.   She attended Rigby and Midway High Schools, living with families "in town" working for her room and board.  During this time she was introduced to and baptized as a member of the LDS church.  She never wavered from her newfound testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel.  Doris and her sister Mickey graduated from both the LDS Seminary and Midway High School in 1936.

After high school Doris worked in childcare, housecleaning and waitressing; worked as a cook, and in the paper mills in Camas, Washington.  During WWII, she moved to Hawthorne, California and worked at the Northrup Aircraft Company.  This was where she learned to love dancing.  She moved to Utah and attended BYU for one semester; worked at Hill Air Force Base; moved back to Idaho Falls and worked as a clerk in the LDS temple for several years, and worked at the Atomic Energy Commission "site" in Arco.

She served in the church often as secretary or teacher in the Young Women organization.  She met the bachelor farmer, Leland Andrus Smith, and they were married in 1957 when Doris was 38 years old.  They built their dream home together on Leland's family farm east of Ammon, Idaho, where they were blessed with two children, LeAnne and Myron.

Doris was active as a member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers organization.  After Leland's accidental farming death in 1968, Doris went back to work at various secretarial positions while raising her children alone, and was always grateful to the members of the church for the help she received doing this.   She retired as a clerk from the City of Ammon in 1984.  After retirement, she stayed very busy as an active visiting teacher in the church, frequently helping older sisters with the challenges of getting older.  She had a talent for writing; she wrote poetry and always wished that she could have written a novel.   She wrote the Sunday bulletin, and was assigned to write letters to missionaries from her ward, which she did faithfully for many years. She loved her grandchildren, and took the opportunity to babysit whenever needed.

She always had a garden, and loved caring for her roses and other flowers.  In 2009, she reluctantly moved from the little home that she loved, into the Mt. Vernon Assisted Living facility.  She and her family appreciated the dedicated and caring service from the staff there, and she learned to call this her new home.  She continued to love the dancing and music of the Lawrence Welk show, and read a new historical novel every two weeks until her passing.

Doris is survived by her half-sister, Virginia Olson Smith of Rigby, Idaho; half-brother, Kent (Donnie) Olson of Ucon, Idaho; daughter, LeAnne (Kevin) Hicken of Ammon, Idaho; son, Myron (Sandra) Smith of Portland, Oregon; grandchildren: Samuel (Sarah), Darla, Sarina, and Marisa Hicken, and Katie, Stefani, and Tanner Smith, and great-grandson, Aiden Hicken.

She is preceded in death by parents, "Merzie" Lewis and Loren Tanner; husband, Leland Smith; siblings, Dale Tanner and Ruth "Mickey" Clark; half-siblings, Ross Olson, Joy Olson Colbert, and Goldie Olson Anthony.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, February 6, 2016, at the Ammon LDS 12th Ward, 2200 Stafford Dr. The family will visit with friends from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the church Saturday prior to the service. Burial will be in the Ammon Cemetery.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.coltrinmortuary.com