Gregory E Smitman

Gregory E Smitman was born June 11, 1950, to his parents George E. Smitman, Jr. and Betty Viola Smitman (Nelson). He passed away September 4, 2025 in Sidney, Ohio. He was a world traveler at a very young age traveling on ships across the ocean. His school years were unsettling because each year was spent in a different schools. In high school he participated in junior varsity and varsity wrestling. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1968 and was selected as a delegate to attend the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1968. While attending the Naval Academy he was also on the wresting team. He was medically discharged in 1968.

He then moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he attended city college and met the love of his life, Lyndia Sue Girvin, in 1969. At the age of 25, he wanted to further his education and attended Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. He received his Bachelor of Science (1975) and Masters of Science (1979) in Ecology and Animal Sciences. While attending WSU, he was a TA for two professors and was responsible for research on ungulates (Elk). After graduation he accepted a job at Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Northern Montana as a Range Conservationist. He started right away with making changes to the reservation with the installation of windmills and irrigation projects and was dispatched to different Indian reservations to provide help with struggling tribes.

With his knowledge of Indians and range and farmlands, he was appointed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to establish the Intertribal Agriculture working group in 1984. In 1987 the BIA established the Intertribal Agricultural Council, which was initially directed by Greg . Greg was directly responsible for establishing the IAC as a non-profit representing the Agricultural Tribes, whereas he was appointed to serve as the first Executive Director. He served on the Small Farms Bureau and worked closely with both Congress and Tribes to secure farmland for Indian tribes across the country. He was responsible for getting Indian Rights to be written in the Farm Bill of 1990. The IAC grew into several sub-councils and organizations. IAC went international with several trips to Japan and throughout Europe trading products grown on Indian lands and approved for companies for food usage.

His passions have always been fishing and hunting and camping. He has floated the Missouri River three times; with wife and 2 of his 3 children, his father-in-law and mother-in-law and wife and daughter, and his father and two sons.

In 2000, Greg retired from the IAC due to ongoing health issues. He and his wife moved to Hawaii, where he took a few years to recover from surgeries. He then took classes to become a PADI-certified dive instructor. From 2004-2006, he worked for a hotel chain on the Big Island (Hawaii) taking visitors out for dives around the island. Later he worked at Kohala Center as a grant writer, helping to get funding for ecological projects important to the State of Hawaii and the environment. One of the major projects was helping fund the ReefTeach Program at Kahalu’u Bay.

He and his wife left Hawaii in 2016 and moved to Lewistown, Montana to take care of Sue’s aging parents. While there he was able to slow down and enjoy his earlier passions like hunting, fishing, and gardening. He was also a hobbyist woodworker who loved making saw dust in his shop. Then in 2022, his health issues became more serious so he and his wife bought a house in Anna, Ohio, to be closer to one of their sons.

He passed away after a short illness and he is survived by his wife, Lyndia Sue Smitman; three children: Garth Ernest-Henry Smitman and wife (Angela), Geoffrey Edward Smitman and wife (Tina) and Amy Louise Knepper and husband (David); seven grandchildren: James William Simpson, Wendy Angela Simpson, Gregory Elliott Smitman, Ashley Elizabeth Smitman, Viola Grace Smitman, James William Knepper, and Emma May Knepper; and two sisters: Rhonda Hunter and Jan Frisk. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grand nephews. 

No services will be held at this time. Arrangements are in the care of Salm - McGill & Tangeman Funeral Home. 

~May He Rest In Peace~