Frank Edward Smith

Frank Smith, age 80, loving husband and father, passed away Wednesday, February 16th, 2022. He is survived by his wife, Carol, his sons Chris and Craig, and his grandchildren Marleigh and Makenna. He is also survived by his sister Betty Goen.

Frank was preceded in death by his father, Earl Smith, and mother, Mary Smith.

A celebration of Frank's life will be held on Friday, March 18th at 4:00 PM at Rio Grande Presbyterian Church located at 600 Coors Blvd. NW.

As part of Frank's last wishes, in lieu of flowers, he asked that memorial contributions be made to the following charities:
The Parkinson's Connection of Central New Mexico: www.parkinsoncnm.org
The Parkinson's Research Foundation: www.parkinsonhope.org
The Parkinson's Foundation: www.parkinson.org


Frank was a native son of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and made a genuine impact on everyone he met and worked with. In the words of one of his acquaintances, "Frank and I never really said very much to each other, but he always had such a kind and powerful presence when he was around."

Frank spent long hours hunting and fishing with his family as a child, and passed those hobbies and skills onto his children. He thoroughly enjoyed being outdoors and observing wildlife in its natural habitat. As a hunter, he raised dogs to hunt with as working companions and absolutely adored Labrador retrievers. He frequently told hunting stories that featured his labrador, Obar.

During his early life, Frank was involved with competitive trap shooting. After being spotted as a crack shot with his BB gun as a youngster, he got involved in the sport and eventually became the top junior trap shooter in the U.S. between 1956-1958. He is still listed in the A.T.A (Amateur Trap Association) records as an all time record holder.

After college, where he graduated with a Master's Degree in History Education, Frank entered the Peace Corps and went to Uganda, Africa. While he was in Africa teaching history, a young lady, named Carol Wentze, was encouraged to become Frank's pen pal. Carol began sending air mail correspondence to Uganda on a regular basis. As their correspondence increased, Carol was convinced by her roommate to begin using nice stationery and a spritz of perfume on her letters. Frank would put his perfumed letters in his desk drawer, and his young colleagues would pay him two shillings to have a sniff of his letters.

When Frank returned home from Africa, he made a side trip to Michigan to meet the young woman who was his pen pal. While in Michigan, Frank invited Carol to come visit New Mexico. It was during that trip that Frank proposed to Carol.

Frank and Carol were married in June, 1970 in Carol's home town of Winneconne, Wisconsin. They were married for 51 years. Carol has said many times that their marriage was arranged by the hand of God because of how they met.

All of his family, friends and colleagues have stories to tell about the love, generosity, humor and grace with which Frank lived his life. He will be deeply missed.

Before Frank passed, Carol encouraged Frank to narrate many of his own stories to her. She has compiled them into a memoir called "Perfumed Letters: Frank's Story"

If you have any fond stories or memories of Frank that you would like to share with the family, please sign the online guest book.