Obituary for Ralph William Smith
'Ralph William Smith “Bill” or 'Smitty' to his friends and family, was born on June 8th 1947 to Billie Lee Smith and Laura Pansy Smith(Clay). He is survived by his three siblings, his sister Dottie, brothers Victor and Mike, daughter and son China and Sean and ex-wife Susan. He grew up in Fort Collins CO and moved to Grand Valley now known as Parachute, CO and later Silt, CO to help his parents on the ranch. After spending a year in college he decided to enlist in the army at the lead up of the draft for the Vietnam war, despite his extraordinary luck in drawing a very low draft number. Always a patriot at heart and a good soldier he was stationed in Korea and quickly worked his way up the ranks as a part of the Military Police. After being honorably discharged from the military he became a lieutenant in the Aspen police department. He met Susan Smith (Bogle) in Aspen and the two married and had two children. Together they spent many years living as a family in Glenwood Springs, CO. Possessing a strong intellect and savvy business skills he changed careers several times as Aspen Parks Director, Co-owner of a Phillips 66 gas station with his brothers, Owner of Smitty’s Repair, Co-owner of Icemakers of Western Colorado, and eventually Co-owner of Firestar Design. After a divorce with Susan he moved to Grand Junction, CO where he began his battle with prostate cancer. He was a strong willed man who refused to give up when the doctors gave him only 6 months to live. He proved those doctors wrong by outliving their prediction by 10 years. His last year he moved to Brighton, CO into a private VA Foster House with Larry and Theresa Naumann. Even in his last month he was talking about how he wanted to live at least another 2 years in order to continue to play his favorite online computer game. He loved to read and he would consume books in one setting. He had an insatiable curiosity, was handy with a wrench, could figure out how to fix anything with his hands, loved to fish, talk politics, play computer games and he had a hearty laugh and great sense of humor. He formed many friendly relationships with his clients and was well known as an honorable man, but it is his family who will miss him the most. He was a great father, husband, confidant and friend.'
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