Firmly admired Durango resident and longtime Fort Lewis College history professor Duane Smith, who died Nov. 26 at 87 years old, was remembered and cherished at a celebration of life at the Community Concert Hall at FLC on Saturday.
About 200 community members, dressed modestly in vests, suit jackets and button-ups, attended the remembrance ceremony.
Friends and colleagues told fond stories of Smith and Summit Church Rev. Jeff Huber led guests in prayers and hymns.
The respect on display for Smith would be difficult to overstate. Speakers frequently referenced his legacy of over 50 years at FLC, his love of history, his devout Christian faith, his healthy sense of humor and his enthusiastic appreciation of the Chicago Cubs.
The Colorado House of Representatives acknowledged Smith’s passing with a tribute and condolences read by former Rep. Barbara McLaughlin.
“The Colorado House of Representatives mourns the loss of Duane Smith and extends condolences and recognition to his family and friends,” she said, reading the tribute. “… He came to be recognized as an extraordinary historian by his peers, and with an unmatched passion for Colorado history, Duane was a nationally … author with an outstanding work ethic who excelled at simplifying complex historical events, making them accessible and engaging for general audiences.”
The House tribute ended by acknowledging Smith’s “incredible life and legacy” and said he will be remembered for everything he has done for Colorado.
Longtime friend Al Harper said Smith was always happy and possessed “a great ability for forgiveness.”
Harper said Smith once asked him to edit a book he was working on. Harper was perplexed.
When he asked Smith why he had any business editing copy, Smith replied, “‘Because history continues to live, and you have the great blessing to work on a railroad that I love, that I know a lot about,’” Harper said. “And he said, ‘I want to make sure your input and your feelings about the greatness of the railroad is in that book.’”
Harper said history meant a lot to both of them because the good and the bad of the past are a roadmap to the future, which Smith understood and lived for sharing that roadmap with thousands of students throughout his storied teaching career.
Ron Brown, Smith’s friend and peer, said Smith was his mentor, co-author and companion on “fearless and sometimes frivolous journeys.”
He said he first met Smith in the University of Illinois’ geography library, where he had found Smith’s book and University of Colorado Boulder dissertation called “Rocky Mountain Mining Camps: The Urban Frontier,” published in 1967.
Smith was wearing jeans, boots, a Chicago Cubs belt buckle and a long-sleeved shirt, and he was rocking a flattop haircut, Brown said.
He said for over 40 years, Smith started every baseball season optimistic about the Chicago Cubs’ chances at taking the baseball World Series; come every October, without fail, that optimism had vanished.
But Smith believed in the “resurrection,” Brown said. Finally, in 2016, after 108 years, the resurrection arrived and the Cubs won the World Series.
Scott Foster, who studied under Smith from April 1991 to April 1995 and would become his friend, recalled the night the Cubs took the World Series. Remembering his former professor’s fondness for the Cubs and, despite his better judgment, called Smith at 11:30 the same night.
Not only was Smith, 79 years old at the time, awake so late in the evening in the middle of a school week, he was still celebrating, Foster said.
He said his love of history was inspiring, and without Smith’s mentorship, Foster would not be who he is today.
Foster recalled an old American mining phrase Smith taught him in his college days. Miners, setting explosives to blow up large rocks and ore deposits, would say, “Tap ’er light” as a word of caution against mishandling the explosives and setting them off prematurely.
The phrase, he explained, became a slang expression for taking care and bidding loved ones farewell.
“I love Dr. Smith more than I think I’ll ever be able to express adequately in words,” he said. “To use a phrase I’ve heard often, but it’s so true as it relates to the importance and the legacy of Dr. Smith and his impact on my life: Without him, there would be no me. Tap ’er light, Dr. Smith. Tap ’er light.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
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