October 8, 1949 – June 14, 2023 (age 73)
Cherie Smith was born on October 8, 1949, in Malad, Idaho and passed away on June 14th, 2023, in Saint George, Utah at the age of 73.
Cherie was born to Karl and Maeser Smith and Retha Dukes of Holbrook, Idaho where she was raised on the family ranch along with her five brothers and sisters. She spent the summers on the ranch riding and exercising the horses for her dad and then spent the winters in Malad. She attended school at Malad Elementary and Malad Jr-Sr High. While there she was involved in rodeo and was a cheerleader for many years. She later attended Ricks College for a year.
Mom then married Nolan Allen Blaisdell and together they had four children. Christoffer Allen (Barbara) Blaisdell of St. George, Utah, Heather (James) Clark of Downey, Idaho, Kimberly (Josh) Skidmore of Ogden, Utah, and John (Jamie) of Malad, Idaho. They raised their family on a farm in St. John.
While raising her family Cherie was always involved in the community. For many years she taught gymnastics to several children. She and her children were involved in 4-H and she was a 4-H leader for several years. Cherie also spent many hours helping to reopen the swimming pool. She later went back to school and became a cosmetologist where she cut hair for many years. She loved meeting new people and made many friends along the way.
Cherie loved her family and the gospel. She was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints and served in several different callings with young women’s being her favorite. She later served an at home mission.
Nolan and Cherie later divorced, and she moved to St. George, Utah. Mother loved the heat which helped with her health conditions. She loved the history of her ancestors that helped to settle the valley. She always felt at home in St. George.
It was there that she met and fell in love with Ernest F. Malan. They were married and made their home in Ivins, Utah where together they started up their horse-riding business, The Trails End Guest Ranch. They provided riding lessons and trail rides to people from all over and would take them on beautiful scenic rides along the red cliffs of Ivins. One of the places they loved to how people were the amazing petroglyphs that were not far from their home. They loved their horses and dogs with Buddy being her beloved companion for many years. They later moved into the city of St. George where they spent the rest of their days. Mom took care of Frank until he passed away from dementia. Frank had three children from a previous marriage. Kelly (Kenny) Littleton, John (Allison) Malan and Tomothy (Hilda) Malan.
Cherie was preceded in death by her parents Karl and Retha, her husband Frank and her sister Kathleen.
She is survived by her four children Chris, Heather, Kim and John and her three stepchildren Kelly, John and Timothy, 16 grandchildren and one great grandchild, Isabella Thomas.
She is also survived by her sisters Ramona (Neal) Hughes of Samaria, Idaho, Lisa (John) Hummel of Malad, Idaho, her brothers David (Naden) Smith of Jerome, Idaho and Kent (Pat) Smith of Holbrook, Idaho.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at Horsley Funeral Homes.