Smit remembered for love of family and case victims

If any eyes were dry at New Life Church on Friday, they probably didn’t stay that way as law officers saluted a former colleague and taps echoed at the end of Lou Smit’s funeral.

As the bugler finished, Colorado Springs police and El Paso County sheriff’s deputies presented an American flag to the family of the former homicide detective. Sounds of weeping broke the silence of the hundreds gathered to remember Smit, who died at 75 of cancer on Aug. 11.

Despite the tears near the end of the two-hour service, Chaplain Jim Hagan began the memorial reminding all that Smit did not lose his life to cancer. He gained victory over death, Hagan noted.

“He wanted this to be a lively event,” Hagan said, referring to Smit’s strong Christian faith. “He wanted it to be a home-going service.”

Throughout the event, those sharing thoughts of Smit recalled his faith that “touched a lot of lives.”

John Anderson, former El Paso County sheriff and partner of Smit’s, had trouble holding back his emotions as he spoke just before a slide show of Smit’s life.

He first asked those who knew Smit to stand and be recognized, then made another request.

“Now, I’d like to ask, if you are a suspect in one of the unsolved cases that Lou worked, would you please stand up and be recognized,” Anderson said to laughter.

Smit’s son Mark painted a vivid picture of a father, who not only loved his family, but loved the victims in the cases he investigated.

“Love is an amazing thing,” Mark Smit said, repeating a phrase his father often told him. “It is limitless and free. You can never run out.”

There were six speakers in all at the service, including John Ramsey, the father of JonBenet Ramsey. Smit had come out of retirement to take on the investigation of the 6-year-old’s death. He always left a lasting impression on Ramsey, as well as the families of other homicide victims.

“Lou always said that he was standing in the victim’s shoes,” Ramsey said.”