Obituary for David Harold Smith
Our dear brother and uncle David Smith passed away on October 6, 2022, at the Bridge in Alamosa after a long battle with dementia. Dave was born on March 24, 1945, in Highland, Ind., to Albert and Evalyne Smith. The son of an English-born steelworker and vaudeville dancer-turned-homemaker, he grew up in a close-knit, suburban Chicago neighborhood. He was a skilled athlete, lettering in football, baseball and basketball all four years of high school and worked on the floor at Inland Steel summers through college. In the summer of 1965, his dad surprised him when instead of attending a White Sox game, they saw the Beatles perform at Comiskey Park.
Dave attended DePauw University from 1963-1967 where he was active in the campus Sigma Chi fraternity, with the nickname “Gremlin.” After graduating in 1967, he volunteered for the U.S. Army rather than be drafted, enrolling in Officer’s Candidate School during the heat of the Vietnam war. He spent the next sixteen months in trainings stateside and survived a helicopter crash near Fort Bliss, TX. In September 1968, he went to Vietnam as a First Lieutenant with the Armored Division of the Third Battalion, First Infantry. Expecting a desk job, he instead served on the DMZ in command of an American and South Vietnamese company until May 1969. Dave earned his Purple Heart from a head injury he sustained when he took off his helmet to get his cigarettes “because that’s how we kept our cigarettes dry.” He recovered from his wounds at an orphanage on the coast. Although he rarely spoke of his service, he had very fond memories of the children at the orphanage during his recovery. He was also very proud that all the soldiers under his command came home.
Dave spent the 1970’s in Las Vegas, Nev., where he loved sports cars, listened to Queen and the Bee Gees and managed properties amidst a booming construction industry. While in Las Vegas, he met petite, fiery Karen Fedele, who married him September 20, 1979, at the Las Vegas Elvis Chapel. In 1983, they moved to Fort Collins, Colo., through the connections of Sigma Chi brother Ken Frazier. Dave eventually opened his own business, Dave Smith Marketing, which he ran until 2008, with clients including Colorado State University and Coors.
Dave and Karen’s children were their dogs, especially pugs. They were loyal supporters of CSU’s Veterinary School Teaching Hospital. They also loved to travel. Dave lost Karen to cancer in April 2018. Around that time, his dementia symptoms were becoming apparent. In 2020, his family moved him to the Bridge at Alamosa to be closer to his niece. He spent the last two years of his life not recognizing his family but humorously entertaining anyone around him with cornball humor, facial expressions and inappropriate t-shirts.
Dave was a very funny man, the kind of guy that called small airplanes “vomit comets”, bought singing Christmas Trees and finished his stories with “and the whole bit.”
Dave is survived by his big sister Louise Minks of Leverett, Mass.; nieces Leah Minks of Turners Falls, Mass., and Erin Minks of Alamosa, Colo.; and his dear dog, Midge.
Memorial contributions can be sent to CSU Veterinary School Teaching Hospital or the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of David and Karen Smith.
The family would like to thank the professional, dedicated staff of the Bridge at Alamosa and the Alamosa VA clinic for caring for David in his last years and days.
A memorial service will be at the Bridge at Alamosa at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 14.
Dave attended DePauw University from 1963-1967 where he was active in the campus Sigma Chi fraternity, with the nickname “Gremlin.” After graduating in 1967, he volunteered for the U.S. Army rather than be drafted, enrolling in Officer’s Candidate School during the heat of the Vietnam war. He spent the next sixteen months in trainings stateside and survived a helicopter crash near Fort Bliss, TX. In September 1968, he went to Vietnam as a First Lieutenant with the Armored Division of the Third Battalion, First Infantry. Expecting a desk job, he instead served on the DMZ in command of an American and South Vietnamese company until May 1969. Dave earned his Purple Heart from a head injury he sustained when he took off his helmet to get his cigarettes “because that’s how we kept our cigarettes dry.” He recovered from his wounds at an orphanage on the coast. Although he rarely spoke of his service, he had very fond memories of the children at the orphanage during his recovery. He was also very proud that all the soldiers under his command came home.
Dave spent the 1970’s in Las Vegas, Nev., where he loved sports cars, listened to Queen and the Bee Gees and managed properties amidst a booming construction industry. While in Las Vegas, he met petite, fiery Karen Fedele, who married him September 20, 1979, at the Las Vegas Elvis Chapel. In 1983, they moved to Fort Collins, Colo., through the connections of Sigma Chi brother Ken Frazier. Dave eventually opened his own business, Dave Smith Marketing, which he ran until 2008, with clients including Colorado State University and Coors.
Dave and Karen’s children were their dogs, especially pugs. They were loyal supporters of CSU’s Veterinary School Teaching Hospital. They also loved to travel. Dave lost Karen to cancer in April 2018. Around that time, his dementia symptoms were becoming apparent. In 2020, his family moved him to the Bridge at Alamosa to be closer to his niece. He spent the last two years of his life not recognizing his family but humorously entertaining anyone around him with cornball humor, facial expressions and inappropriate t-shirts.
Dave was a very funny man, the kind of guy that called small airplanes “vomit comets”, bought singing Christmas Trees and finished his stories with “and the whole bit.”
Dave is survived by his big sister Louise Minks of Leverett, Mass.; nieces Leah Minks of Turners Falls, Mass., and Erin Minks of Alamosa, Colo.; and his dear dog, Midge.
Memorial contributions can be sent to CSU Veterinary School Teaching Hospital or the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of David and Karen Smith.
The family would like to thank the professional, dedicated staff of the Bridge at Alamosa and the Alamosa VA clinic for caring for David in his last years and days.
A memorial service will be at the Bridge at Alamosa at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 14.