Jack Smith

Jack Smith lived in the Pearl Street house that his father purchased in 1932, and Jack passed away peacefully in his sleep there on October 7, 2023. A professional archaeologist, he served for 15 years as Chief of Research at Mesa Verde National Park. Previously, he lived in California and New Mexico, and over the course of his life traveled extensively around the world. Jack was the son of George E. Smith and Leone E. Brierley Smith, both members of early Boulder families who came to Boulder to mine gold and coal. He attended Boulder High School and graduated from the University of Colorado with a History major in 1952. In 1953, he enlisted in the Army Corps of Engineers as a cartographer. Posted to the Presidio in San Francisco, he made maps and signs, and interpreted aerial photographs until his discharge in 1955. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of California in Los Angeles in 1965. During this time, he learned archaeology, ultimately supervising projects in California and the Great Basin, west Mexico, and western New Mexico, as a staff member of UCLA and then the Museum of New Mexico. On completing his graduate education, Jack was hired by the University of Colorado to teach a broad range of anthropology courses at the Denver campus, ranging from Southwestern archaeology to the ethnography of China. (In 1966, he received a Fulbright award to study Chinese culture in Taiwan).Over 15 years, Jack built the anthropology program at UCD. Most summers, he joined the University of Colorado research program at Mesa Verde National Park, serving as a field supervisor on multiple projects that both trained students and served Park Service management needs. In 1980, he shifted from academia to join the National Park Service full-time as Chief Archaeologist and Director of Research at the park. He retired in 1994and received the Department of Interior Meritorious Service Award for accomplishments in archaeology and preservation. Jack Smith contributed to many charitable organizations, especially nature conservation groups. In his retirement, he served as a board member for Historic Boulder and the Wright Palaeohydrological Institute. While he was physically able, he volunteered with the Columbia Cemetery Conservation Corps. With deep local roots, Jack was an archaeologist and historian with worldwide interests. He was well-read and well-traveled, and he served as a teacher to many people, both in the classroom and field situations. This adventurous life was not conducive to family stability; by the age of 40, Jack was married three times. His wives were: Frances Louise Redman, Frances Conor, and Ann Noordenbos. The second half of his life saw a 47-year engagement to Susan Collins, his surviving common-law spouse. Jack is survived by two adult children, David Forsyth of Gardinerville, Nevada, and Caitlin Cunningham of Petaluma, California. There are five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Dale Shockey of Wichita, Kansas. It was his desire to be buried with the simplest possible ritual. There will be no visitation, but a simple ceremony on the day of interment, to which all are welcome. The Reverend David Schwartz of the Unitarian Universalist Churchof Boulder will officiate. Location, date, and time arrangements are pending.