Colvin E. (Smitty) Smith of Hondo, 94, went home to be with his Lord Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. Colvin was born May 23, 1925 on Chapman Ranch near Corpus Christi to Colvin E and Loraine King Smith. As the youngest child he joined his older brother Clyde and sisters Elsie and Wilma on the farm. Following the death of his mother when he was three months old and later his father when he was sixteen, Colvin was raised by his siblings. At the outbreak of WWII he followed his older brother Clyde into the Navy. There he ran into two problems. First, he had to get the permission of his guardian to join since he was not yet 18 and, secondly, he had no first name, only the initials (C. E.) To solve his name problem, he took the name Colvin after his father. He served in the Pacific theatre in Admiral Nimitz's Pacific Fleet until the end of the war. He always joked he joined the Navy to see the world, but his duty station was in the belly of the escort carrier Copahee where he could see "nothin". Following his discharge from the Navy he found a job driving a taxi in Corpus Christi. Here he met Dorothy Kathryn Rutherford who would soon become his wife. Along with marriage (and with the help and encouragement of his new father-in-law), came a new job with Humble Oil Company (later to become Exxon) in Freer, TX. This job would be his livelihood for the next 40 years as he followed the oil plays around South Texas. He retired from Exxon in Kingsville as a drilling superintendent. After retirement, he and Dorothy spent many happy years traveling in their Avion travel trailer. They finally moved to Hondo to be nearer their daughter Kathy and family. A plus with this move was that it shaved three hours off the time it took them to get out of Texas on their trips. He is preceded in death by his parents; his wife Dorothy; son, Charles Smith; brother, Clyde N. Smith; and sisters, Elsie Loraine Ballard and Wilma Virden. He is survived by his daughter, Kathryn S. (Kathy) (Dr. Glen) Riff of Hondo; daughter-in-law, Janice Smith of Corpus Christi; grandsons, Brian (Callie) Riff and Brett (Crystal) Riff, all of Hondo, Michael (Jessica) Riff of New Braunfels, Chad (Jamie) Smith of Houston, Jacob Smith of Waco and Cody (Dorina) Smith of Corpus Christi; great-grandchildren, Ashlee Riff, Jolie Berger, Nolan, Nicholas and Cannon Riff, Wyatt and Emma Riff, Ethan, Peyton and Cameron Smith, and Calista, Avery and Hazel Smith. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 22, at New Fountain United Methodist Church. Interment will be at New Fountain Cemetery.