Mary Elizabeth Smith

Born into this world on June 22nd, 1932, the youngest of five children, Mary Elizabeth Smith, was given the revealing childhood nickname of Pet. Proud to be a Colorado native, she grew up in Gunnison. She graduated from Gunnison High School in 1950. There she was called Si and was an officer of and active in several music groups and clubs. Soon thereafter she married the love of her life, John Franklin Smith and was married for fifty-six years until he preceded her in death in 2006. Mary E. and John saw the world with the US Army before they settled and have been full-time residents of Colorado Springs since 1962.

Mary E. loved her family and supported her children’s activities from serving as PTA President to attending all their programs and sporting events. She worked at St. Mary’s High School in the 1980s and later managed the office alongside John and son Frank in their family-owned vending and billiards businesses. She took classes at the University of Colorado-CS and Pikes Peak Community College.

She and John were avid Bronco and John Elway fans and enjoyed going to Rockies games. They also enjoyed going to Cripple Creek, were bingo volunteers for St. Mary’s, where she was a member and she volunteered for the Arc. She had fun collecting and attending trading card shows, a hobby she acquired from her grandson, Tanner Cole Smith who also preceded her in death in 2024.

Later in life Mary E. was an active member of St. Joseph’s Catholic church. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Georgia and Walter J. Bentley III of Nashville, her son and daughter-in-law Frank and Cheryl Smith of Monument, grandchildren Brittany and Cody Smith of Aurora and Amber and W. John Bentley IV of Lookout Mountain, GA, and great grandchildren, Sage and Sawyer Smith and Walter John Bentley V aka Wally.

Besides those already mentioned, other loved ones who preceded her in death include her parents Elizabeth B. and George A. Sievers of Gunnison Colorado, her sister and brother’s Eileen, George, Lawrence, and John Sievers all born and raised in Gunnison.

The Smith and Bentley families are thankful for the staff at the Broadmoor Court where Mary E. lived in the last years of her life. They are also grateful for her nurse Lisa and chaplain James at Bristol Hospice, who eased her transition into afterlife. Even through her last days she had a quick wit and a twinkle in her eye. She went to be with God in heaven on Monday, September 8th. She was 93 years old.