Obituary of Lee Kent Smith

Lee (also widely known as Kent) was born May 18, 1940 in South Gate, California, the fourth of four children to Nephi Chester Smith and Louese Nichols Smith. He grew up in Gardena, CA and graduated from Gardena High School. Lee met his sweetheart, Gloria, in 1971 while they were both activity directors at church. Lee and Gloria were married on October 28, 1972 in the LDS Los Angeles Temple. They remained happily married for 49 wonderful years. They were blessed with two great sons, Leon and Bret, who were Lee’s pride and joy and he was so very proud of them. Lee and Gloria spent their first married years in Torrance, CA and raised their family in Van Nuys, CA, where they lived for over thirty years. In 2007, Lee and Gloria decided on a big change and moved to Loveland, CO, which brought them closer to their son, daughter-in-law and first grandson. They were able to be nearby for the births of their remaining grandchildren. Lee was renamed "Papa Kent” by his grandchildren, whom he deeply enjoyed and loved so very much. His other son lives and works in Hawaii and has been to CO for many visits. Lee’s first job was as a mechanic at Richfield Service Station on Redondo Beach Blvd. Lee spent his career as an engineering technician, working on naval and air-traffic radar systems. He worked for ITT-Gilfillan for thirty seven years, until his retirement in 1999. Lee had a love for cars and owned several classics – a 1955 Chev 210, a 1965 Ford Mustang, 1921 and 1929 Dodge roadsters, and others. He enjoyed working on those, or any other car that came his way, including his son’s 1965 Chevrolet, which they spent many quality hours together restoring. Lee loved to tinker and work with his hands. He could fix almost anything, thus earning the name Mr. Fix-It, and always had a project going on around the house. He was always willing and able to help out a friend or neighbor in need of a handy-man. When in CA, Lee, Gloria and boys were great baseball fans and spent many summer nights at Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium watching the Dodgers and Angels. Once in CO, Lee and Gloria continued their tradition and enjoyed going to Rockies games at Coors Field. Lee also appreciated the chance to get out of the city and take a weekend to go camping around Southern CA. Every summer he would take vacation time and drive his family to see sights and attractions all over the western U.S. When not camping, Lee loved to browse the trailer lots looking for that perfect camper – which was very hard to find. Lee was a great example of humility and spent his life caring for others while putting his own needs far behind. He fought a long courageous battle against a relentless disease that slowly devastated his body and, still, he rarely, if ever, complained about his pains and hardships. Lee passed from this world in the early morning hours in the arms of his sweetheart. Lee was preceded in death by his parents, brothers; Rodney and Curt and infant sister Anne. He is survived by his wife Gloria, sons Leon and Bret (Denise) and six beautiful grandchildren; Mason, Vahan, Oliver, Veanna, Azelie and Felix. Viewing will be held at Viegut Funeral Home on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 11:00am, followed by a gathering to remember this most wonderful man - Dad, Papa, Sweetheart.