Evelyn Craddock "Evie" (Jewell) Smith
Marriages
James V Smith - December 1945
Burial Details
Obituaries
The Daily Sentinel page 3D Obituary - December 2, 2018
Evelyn Craddock Smith July 29, 1919 - November 26, 2018
Evelyn "Evie" Smith was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Harold Guy Jewell and Evelyn Pearl Hough. She and her three siblings were raised on the island of Oahu where her step-father, Duke Craddock, managed the Libby pineapple plantation. She lived a young life full of adventures most will never experience. Early Sunday morning on December 7, 1941 at age 22, she witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor from the hill on the plantation overlooking the harbor, an event that changed the course of her life and that of our nation. She met, fell in love with and married James V. Smith, Captain in the United States Army Air Force in December, 1945 in Honolulu. Following the war, they moved to Denver, CO where Jim finished his Engineering degree at D.U. and then relocated for work to Seattle and later to Midwest City, OK. Together they had five children. Jim died in January, 1961 of complications from polycystic kidney disease. Evie moved the family to Grand Junction in the summer of 1961. She began working for School District #51 in 1967 after all of her children had begun school. She remained with the School District for 21 years retiring as the secretary for the Occupational Training Center in 1988. Evie devoted her life to her family. Time was carved out each summer for family road trips, traveling to national parks, and other landmarks in the United States and Canada, visiting friends and family and camping along the way. More memories were created during those travels than a child could ever dream of. She instilled in her children a love for adventurous cuisine from Asian stir fry to Indian curry to poi. She lived a life that her children longed to emulate, one of kindness, forgiveness, an absence of judgment, gratitude for what we have, generosity to those who have less, adventure, and laughter. She never spoke a critical word about anyone and through the last days of her life understood the importance of saying "thank you." She enjoyed gardening, reading, word scrambles, writing and reciting poems and ditties and Jeopardy. She was an active grandmother helping with after-school pick-ups, homework and otherwise instilling the values of hard work, kindness, fun and happiness in each of her grandchildren. Her great-grandchildren were a pure pleasure to her. Evie is preceded in death by her husband, Jim; eldest son, Jimmy and grandson, Benjamin. She is survived by Jimmy’s daughter, Sarah Smith of Kearns, UT (Amber); Claudia Hazelhurst of Grand Junction (Greg, Sean and Jenna, Drew); Randy Smith of Fruita (Debra, Tabitha, Tyler and Sarah); Debbie Montoya of Aurora (David, Justin and Tracy, Rachel and Mo); Cathy Huerter of Greeley (Dan, Devin, Megan and Ryan), and three great-grandchildren, Evo, Aly and Evelyn. A celebration of life will be held in the Spring of 2019. Memorial contributions may be made to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (PKD), P.O. Box 871847, Kansas City, MO 64187-1847.
