Marvin Smith

Marvin Smith Sr., 78, of Denver passed away early on Tuesday morning, September 18th 2018. He was born at home on the farm in Missouri Valley, Iowa to Effie and Floyd Smith on April 1st 1940, "An April Fool" as he would say. He was the 8th of 11 children and was a brother to Bill, Betty, Jim, Paul, Wilma, Mary, Merle, Joe, Donna, and Wayne. He told the story that in exchange for delivering him and his twin brother, Merle, the doctor received two buckets of pig manure making him "Worth a bucket of pig shit." It was his humor, kindness, and humbleness that made everyone who met him feel as though they knew him forever. After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1958 Marvin found his lifelong career working on the railroad. His career brought him and his young family from Omaha, Nebraska to Denver, Colorado in the early 70's where he lived the rest of his life.

Marvin worked his way to become a Master Machinist for the Union Pacific railroad, where he retired in 2004. Marvin was a member of the Gates Rock and Mineral Club for many years. He made several trips with his family to discover unique rocks all across the West. Everyone in the family has an impressive rock garden thanks to him. He was very skilled at distinguishing between different kinds of rocks. He could identify rose quartz from feldspar crystal and petrified wood from "any old sex rock"
(just an old f#@!ing rock). He was also an avid hunter, fisher, and bowler. One of his true passions was playing cards. The game didn't much matter though spade, pitch, and hearts were his favorites. Everyone knew that a visit with him would include at least an hour of cards, which we all looked forward to. He was a master at passing the deal. His signature move was to get someone talking and keep handing them the deck saying "Shut up and deal." Anyone who dared to beat him could expect to be lightheartedly shamed by labeling them as a dirty, rotten, stinkin', no good cheater, or a dirty dog. He always kept score because as he put it "If you keep score and you're losing, you're not doing it right."

Marvin also faithfully traveled back to Iowa on the second week in August for the past several decades for a marathon of card playing and good times with his siblings and their families. The one constant with Marvin was the importance he placed on family. He was the kind and selfless patriarch of his family. He is survived by his 4 children, Marvin Smith Jr. of Cheyenne, WY, Eileen Donovan (William) of Gering, NE, Gary Smith (Lori) of Commerce City, CO, and Judi Smith of Lakewood, CO; 10 grandchildren, Ben Pena, Dominic Pena, and Jason Pena, Jake LeDoux, Josh LeDoux, Laniva LeDoux, and Shawn LeDoux, Leesa Kotrola, Tony LeDoux and David Richard; 18 great-grandchildren, Drayk and Jorey, Elijha, Jarvier, Izhia, Christion, Raylenn, and Airaanea, Isis, Lily Mae and Annetta, Addison and Emma, Shelby and Kylie, Olivia, Damon, and E'oin.

Marvin has meant so much to so many and was loved greatly. He will truly be missed by everyone who knew him.