Marsha Lynn Smith

A memorial service will be held at12:00PM Thursday, April 30, 2015 at Advantage Runyan Stevenson Memorial Chapel, 6425 West Alameda Avenue, Lakewood, Colorado 80226. There will be a reception immediately following. She will be laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery.

Marsha was born on March 22, 1944, to Cora E. and George S. Howe in Denver, Colorado. Her father was a lieutenant in the United States Army, and she spent much of her childhood abroad in both Germany and Japan until her early teenage years. At the Owls Social Club of Denver, she was introduced by her parents to John Emmanuel Smith, Sr., a recent graduate of the University of Colorado. They were wed on July 2, 1966, and enjoyed 49 wonderful years of marriage.

Marsha attended two years of nursing education at the Presbyterian School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado. She chose to defer her nursing career in order to raise her children as a full time wife and homemaker. She later served as a home healthcare nurse to her grandmother and other geriatric patients.

Marsha’s passion was the power of prayer, which she faithfully exercised both in her personal life as well as in service to church members and prayer line callers as a staff member and supervisor of the Marilyn Hickey prayer center and telemarketing department at Orchard Road Christian Center, formerly known as Happy Church. She was known as a prolific prayer warrior who touched the lives of thousands with the message of Christ, over the years that she served. John and Marsha raised their children at ORCC, and they remained faithful members for thirty years. This past January, Marsha was honored by ORCC for 21 years of exemplary service to her church community, and many attended to celebrate her legacy and share their love and how she had touched their lives.

Her interests included reading and caring for her houseplants, playing board games and visiting with her grandchildren, along with participation in women’s devotional groups as part of her church community. She enjoyed taking walks and embarking on regular trips with her husband to their favorite retreat locations in Estes Park, Colorado. She also devoted her time as a caregiver to father, who passed away at age 93.

Mrs. Smith is survived by her husband of 49 years, John E. Smith Sr.; Eldest daughter, Alicia L. and Mark F. Gore of Denver, CO.; Eldest son, John E. and Nicola M. Smith, Jr., of Hamden, CT; daughter LiAnne C. and Nathan D. Brown of Allen, TX; daughter Danelle M. and Justin W. Scott of Tulsa, OK; and eleven grandchildren, including Mariah (age 21), Marcus (age 17), Myles (age 9), Albany and Hunter (age 12), Steel (age 9), Chloe (age 12), Cassidy (age 7), Gillian (age 13), Omar (age 4) and Olive (age 2) . She is loved, revered and greatly missed by her family and a host of close friends and colleagues.