David Smith

David Andrew Smith, a man who touched the lives of everyone he met, died suddenly at his home in Castle Rock, Colorado on December 16, 2022.  David was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on December 27, 1963, and soon after lived in three different states and overseas in Bangkok, Thailand before his family settled in Albuquerque as he entered the third grade at Comanche Elementary School. From there he attended Madison Middle School and Sandia High School, graduating in 1982. In high school David was involved in several drama productions, honing a skill for entertaining people that he perfected over the years, keeping friends, family and total strangers in stitches with his jokes, anecdotes and re-enactments of his favorite comedy sketches and comedians. He also joined the Albuquerque chapter of DeMolay International, a junior masonic fraternity, where he made lifetime friends. After a at New Mexico State University, David enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in 1986. After basic training he served on ships in the North Pacific off the coast of Oregon and on the Columbia River in Washington state.

After being assigned to duty in Washington, D. C., he met his beloved wife, Michele, whom he married in 1992. His last posting with the Coast Guard was in a radiological clinic, experience which he parlayed into a career in radiology through obtaining an Associates in Applied Science degree from Northern Virginia Community College, subsequent his honorable discharge from the Guard. David leveraged his experience and talent to venture into a career in medical sales specializing in spinal prosthetics, first with Sofamore Danek and then with Medtronic. David spent his career training, advising and assisting spinal surgeons through all the advances in spinal prosthetic technology for over 25 years, often in the operating rooms alongside those surgeons. David’s career took him from Northern Virginia to Austin, Texas, Las Vegas, Nevada, and finally to Denver, Colorado, where he and his family settled in 2005. In 1998, David and Michele welcomed their daughter, Natalie Story, into the world, creating a family of love, laughter and adventure that was the center of his life.

David was predeceased in life by his mother, Frances, his adored father, Colonel James R. Smith, and his infant brother Daniel. Survivors include his wife, Michele, and daughter Natalie; mother-in-law Carla Smider, brothers-in-law Michael Smider and Dana Smider, all of Herndon, Virginia; sisters Marian Ciepiela and her husband, Steve, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Anne Smith and her husband Jason of Berthoud, Colorado; Madolyn Osborne and her husband, Mark, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, brother Mark of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and a host of adoring nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, his family gratefully suggests donations be made in David’s name to the Wounded Warriors Project, Denver Rescue Mission, or the National Mill Dog Rescue.