Darrel Robert Smith

He was born at home on the family farm in Gove, Kansas on July 3, 1932 to Mable and Corwin Smith. He was the youngest of 10 children with 7 brothers and 2 sisters (James "Marion", Vivian, Ramon, Kenneth, Carl, Francis, Wilda, Corwin Jr., and Donald. He worked on his parents farm and when all his brothers went to serve in WWII, he became the head farm hand and ran the family tractor at age 10.

He began dating his high school sweetheart "Marita" his junior year of high school. After the two years of courting, he made Marita his bride on December 10, 1950. They wasted no time and welcomed their first son, Dennis, on September 9, 1951 followed by their second son, Jerry, on February 14, 1953. While working on the family farm and raising two young sons, he took correspondence courses through United Television Corporation working towards his broadcast license certificate. He completed his on-the-job training in Louisville, Kentucky. Darrel then moved his young family to Wichita, Kansas to begin his career as a broadcast engineer at KARD-TV. Their third child Darrel "Craig" was born July 28, 1956.

With a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 3 month old in tow, Darrel moved his young family to Denver to continue his broadcast career with KBTV Channel 9; he was one of the pioneers in the television industry. On the first day of his much anticipated career at the station he came down with the flu and had to call in sick. If any of you really knew Darrel, you would know how much this bothered him to call in sick and knew it would end his career as quickly as it started. Having the foresight to know what a great addition Darrel would be to the station, they welcomed him a few days later than he had anticipated starting. It was several years later when Marita had a surprise for Darrrel and announced there would be another little addition to their family. On December 12, 1962 they welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Pamela. The day she decided to come into the world, a neighbor's car rolled down the street and plowed into the family car, so they had to borrow a car to get Marita to the hospital.

Darrel worked as a camera man and as a remote engineer at Channel 9 and spent many weekends shooting Bronco football games and ended the weekend with many "Come to Jesus" moments working remotely at Calvary Temple. Because of his involvement with the broadcast industry, Darrel was often known to score (often free) tickets to various sporting events from Bronco games to Nuggets games and even a heavy weight fight (Ali vs. Alzado). Darrel was an avid sports fan and followed his hometown teams faithfully... however, when it came to baseball his heart was with the Cardinals. So, needless to say, when the rockies played the Cardinals it was a win/win for Darrel (and I don't have to tell you which team usually wins).

Darrel was a devoted family man and loved each and every member of his family from his son, Dennis and his wife, Maria and their three sons, Derek, Travis, and Scott; his son Jerry and his wife, Sharlea and their daughter, Alicia; thier son, Craig and his wife, Debbie and their children, Jodi, Chad, and Jenni; and their daughter Pam and partner Martha. He was also blessed with 11 great grandchildren (so far): Damian, Charlise, Rafael, Maximo, Piper, Jayci & Jordynn, Damion, Alexis & Braylon, and Quinton. Darel enjoyed all family events and tried not to miss any.