James "Jim" Ronald Smith

James (Jim) Ronald Smith, age 82, was born in Independence MO on March 23, 1943 to Elmer and Burnice Smith and went to his eternal home on December 13, 2025. Jim is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joan, his daughter Brenda and son-in-law Kirk Olds, his brother Greg Smith of Kansas City, MO and his wife Michelle and cousin Davis Shikles. He was also beloved Papa to his grandsons Jonathan and his wife Emily, Andrew and Benjamin.

Jim grew up in Independence MO until he was about 14 years old. As a small child he was very close to his grandfather and would often go with him to Kelseys Coffee shop several times a day for his coffee and to chat with friends. Jim belonged to the boy scouts where he received his Eagle Scout badge, the YMCA chess club and to different church related youth groups. He also had a paper route, and delivered papers to Harry Truman’s house. Even though he never met the former president, Jim does remember seeing Mr. Truman while he was out for his daily walk. Once when Jim was a young teenager, he decided to run away from home. He hitch hiked to the neighboring town of Olean where some of his relatives lived. Upon arriving at their house, they simply called his parents who came to pick him up and bring him back home.

One of the favorite things that the Smith family liked to do was to take an annual summer trip to Colorado and go camping at Glacier Basin, near Estes Park. They developed many lifelong friends from these camping trips. Often they would meet friends from Texas and camp together. Maybe this is what caused them to move to Colorado in 1960. After their move, Jim attended high school in Littleton. CO and then enlisted in the Army where he was stationed in Fort Riley, KS, Fort Knox, KY and one year in Germany. While in the service, he made many trips back home to Independence to see his family and have his grandma, Sadie, tailor sew all of his army uniforms. Jim had a very small waist and broad shoulders, and always liked his uniforms to fit “just right”….a motto he applied to many areas of his life. While he was stationed in Germany, he also made many weekend trips to various places in Germany and other European countries. On one of his week-end driving trips, he actually went into East Germany but did not know it until their return and saw the sign that they were now leaving East Germany, a place forbidden to Americans. His job in the army was a tank mechanic and one of his favorite activities was to drive the tanks over trees or to drive the jeeps over high dirt mounds in his spare time.

Once out of the service, Jim returned to Denver, Colorado. He worked in a nursing home for a short time, then for a fire extinguisher company. He loved to drive cars, and bought two new Corvettes. He spent a lot of time with his cars and camping in the mountains. In 1967, he traded in his cars and married Joan Gutschmidt and they lived in a small apartment near Washington Park. They soon had their daughter, Brenda, and he opted for a government job working for the US Post Office as a mail carrier. He worked there until 1998 when he retired from the Post office at the age of 55. He carried the same route for over 20 years. Often the work was hard, but he was not immune to hard work.

Some of his favorite things he loved to do the most was spending time with his family, especially playing with his grandsons (how he loved those boys), having father/daughter time watching his beloved Broncos with Brenda, eating a great steak, reading mystery novels or financial books and traveling the world with Joan. Their excursions included travel to 64 foreign countries, 44 states, 55 cruises, 22 trips to Mexico, 15 trips to Hawaii with one of the most memorable being going to Israel with Joan and Brenda and being baptized in the Jordan river.

Jim also loved the Church and served as an elder, usher and both Jim and Joan ran their church’s small book store called the “book nook”. He loved serving in the church and was there every time the doors were open as long as he could. Although he was known by most for his jokes and sarcasm, when asked about his beliefs, his talk was straight forward and his standards strict but oh how He loved the Lord.

Ultimately, Jim’s legacy will be shown to be how He prioritized his faith and led his family to love Jesus and serve Him faithfully.

A Celebration of Life will be held at OneLife Church - Centennial, located at 19697 E Smoky Hill Rd, Centennial, CO 80015, on December 22, 2025, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Please have flowers delivered to this church for the Memorial Service.

A Private Family Visitation is scheduled at Olinger Hampden Mortuary & Cemetery, 8600 East Hampden Ave, Denver, CO 80231, on December 23, 2025, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.

The Committal Service will take place at Fort Logan National Cemetery, 3698 S Sheridan Blvd., Denver, CO 80236, on December 23, 2025, from 1:30 pm to 2:00 pm with Army Military Honors Rendered.