February 13, 1950 - October 21, 2020
Joe Allen Smith, 70, of Loveland, CO, passed away Oct. 21, 2020 due to a severe weather event that occurred while fishing on Henry’s Lake, Idaho. He was born February 13, 1950 to Lloyd and Reva Smith in Berkeley Springs, WV. Joe graduated from Penn State University with a Masters degree in 1975. He was married to Jan in 1977. Joe is survived by his wife Jan, two children, Scott Smith and wife Sarah, Lisa Wong and husband Nick, three grandchildren, Alaina, Tristan, and Rylan, and three brothers Danny, Art and Jay.
Joe was a remarkable, world class plant breeder with 40 years of excellence releasing over 60 commercial wheat varieties for both the US and western Canada. He had an unbelievable vision of what a successful wheat variety should look like and the determination and consistency to find the right combination of traits: short stature, good disease resistance and combination of high protein and high yield. Very few breeders in the world were able to find this success and it took his whole 40-year career to accomplish it. Following retirement in 2015, the results of his hard work continue to live on. His dedication has produced the top two spring wheat varieties in North Dakota for the past five years.
Joe was a wonderful father, grandfather and husband. He was an avid fly fisherman and spent much of his time preparing for fishing trips, fishing on his boat with long-time friends, or reminiscing of his trips through his love of photography. Joe enjoyed traveling the world with his wife Jan, having taken trips to Europe, South America, Asia and Africa, and spent his time at home supporting his beloved Duke basketball. He loved spending time with his family and will be remembered as a gentle, kind, and fun-loving husband, father, grandfather and friend.
There will be a viewing and visitation for friends and family Tuesday, October 27th, 2020 at the Kibbey-Fishburn Funeral Home from 1pm-3pm. Joe’s family is holding a private memorial service at a later date but would love for you to share a memory of Joe in the guest book. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Northern Colorado Red Cross for the Colorado wildfire relief.
https://www.redcross.org/local/colorado/about-us/Locations/northern-colorado.html
