Jean C. Smith
Feb 21, 1933 — Nov 28, 2025
Jean C Smith, 92 years, passed peacefully on the evening of November 28, 2025, at the Life Care Center of Aurora, Colorado.
Jean was born on February 21, 1933, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to the late Laverne and Mary Clapp. She grew up alongside her sister, Margorie, and graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1950. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Chemistry from Kalamazoo College in 1954. That same year she married Arthur W. Smith, and together they moved to Denver, Colorado, to begin their family, sharing 49 years of marriage.
During the 1960s, Jean was active in the Fair Housing Movement through the United Methodist Church. In 1969, she and Art joined the staff of the Ecumenical Institute/Institute of Cultural Affairs, working in underserved communities to foster locally led social and economic development. Their work took them around the world, including extended periods in Vogar, Manitoba, Canada, and Nairobi, Kenya, Africa, where they helped establish community development initiatives. They returned to Denver in 1992.
In 1995, Jean organized the steering committee and volunteer efforts to map roadless areas on the Pike–San Isabel National Forest. This project grew into Wild Connections, where she served for many years as Executive Director and Board Chair. Under her leadership, Wild Connections has now celebrated 30 years of protecting the lands and waters of central Colorado.
Jean loved camping throughout the United States and Africa and was an avid birdwatcher who participated each year in Cornell Ornithology’s “Great Backyard Bird Count.”
Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur W. Smith, and her daughter, Vickie R. Smith. She is survived by her sister, Margorie McManus of Haslett, MI; her sons Michael Smith of Minneapolis, MN, and Patrick Smith (Judy) of Coon Rapids, MN; her daughter Valerie Wainwright (Tom) of Aurora, CO; grandchildren John Wainwright (partner Gloria Rios) and Matthew Wainwright of Aurora, CO; step-grandchildren Jolene Stinson of Eden Prairie, MN; Justin Keller of Otsego MN; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews on both sides of the family.
REMEMBRANCES
Art W. Smith
July 12, 1928 –
Arthur William Smith was born in Mishawauka, Indiana, on July 12, 1928 to William and Harietta Barnes Smith. He lived on the family farm with his father, mother and four sisters, and spent many hours next door with his Grandfather, who taught him practical skills. He graduated from Riley High School, then joined the Army and was stationed in Japan. He attended Purdue University for one year in the forestry program and then Kalamazoo College, where he graduated in 1952 with a BA in business administration.
He and Jean Clapp were married in 1954 and established their home in Denver. Their four children – Vickie, Michael, Patrick and Valerie – were raised in Denver, and Art took the family on uncounted fishing and camping trips in the Colorado Mountains. He was active in the Methodist Church and the civil rights movement. From 1954 until 1971 he was a merchandiser at Montgomery Ward’s Metropolitan Warehouse. His career there was marked by an elaborate paper inventory system and the 1965 Platte River flood which rose to the roof of the Warehouse.
In 1970 the family joined the Institute of Cultural Affairs. They were based in such varied places as Denver, Colorado; Rochester, New York; Vogar, Manitoba, Canada; Chicago, Illinois; Targwyth, Wales, Great Britain; Majuro, Marshall Islands; and Nairobi, Kenya. He served as building manager of ICA’s facility in Chicago, as the ICA.s travel agent, and a business consultant for village development projects. One of his accomplishments in Kenya was training Kenyan staff to use a computerized accounting system. When he left in 1992, the staff was self-sufficient in all financial operations
Returning to Denver, Art ‘retired’, and embarked on a new venture in the conservation community. He was treasurer/bookkeeper for the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project, Enos Mills Group of Sierra Club and the Upper Arkansas and South Platte Project. Over the years, he provided invaluable practical support for the field inventories of more than 100 roadless areas in the National Forests west of Denver.
Most recently, the family moved to three acres of forested land near Florissant, Colorado, where he alternated between unpacking, organizing his office and workshop, building a dog pen and watching the wild turkeys and deer go through. He combined his lifelong passion for the outdoors and wildlife with his talent for practical action in his own unique way.
In addition to this wife and children, he is survived by his son-in-law, Tom Wainwright, and daughter-in law, Judy Smth; his sisters Della Davis, Helen Strong and Ruby Daniels; four grandchildren, John Wainwright, Matthew Wainwright, Justin Keller and Joleen Stinson; and two great grandchildren.
Art built this cabin in Vogar.