“I would always see him around town,” said local Mike Taets about Chris Smith. “He loved to get out and stay in touch with everyone, Chris is definitely a valuable asset for Aspen to lose.”
Longtime Aspenite Christopher Smith was finally seen floating Thursday, nine miles away from his boat near the Channel Key Banks in Florida. Smith, who was 57, was celebrating his brothers wedding in Florida over the weekend with his wife Toni Zurcher. Zurcher decided to come back to Aspen Sunday, but Smith stayed a while longer, according to a published report, to go to the Keys where he kept his boat. He was scheduled to return home on Wednesday.
When he did not arrive home as expected or in the day that followed, worried family members and friends took it upon themselves to go down to the Keys, shortly after an extensive search including the U.S Coast Guard, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Monroe County Sheriffs office of Key West was called to a hault.
What loved ones found off the balmy coast of sunny Florida was no short of a tragedy. It struck everyone that knew Smith in our small town and around the valley. The body was spotted floating in the waters at about 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, indicated by family friend and affiliate, Bob Wade.
“[I can say] that the family is a little upset by the coverage of the tragedy that has been in the news since this has happened,” said President & CEO of Aspen EarthMoving Rick Stevens. “What nobody really sees are all the good things that Chris has done for the community over the years, he loved and cared so much, and many of the things he did without anyone asking him to in the first place.”
Mr. Smith’s body has been transferred to the Monroe County Coroners Office and is pending investigation as to the cause of death. Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission head investigator in the case, Roy Payne, was unable to relay any further infromation as to the cause of death.
Stevens said that friends and loved ones would rather focus of Smith’s character, contribution, and passion for the community rather than his untimely death.
Stevens, knew Smith for over 30 years and worked with him as partners at Aspen Earthmoving for almost 25 years since Smith began it in 1983.
“He was truly a remarkable guy, there isn’t one time in particular that I can think of him [making a different],” Stevens said. “He lived everyday with enthusiasm, helping people and going above and beyond for employees and customers and everyone around him.”
Stevens is referring to the countless random acts of kindness that Smith performed including his involvement with the Aspen Ski Club, Aspen Junior Hockey, and the development of employee housing in Aspen.
Though Smith sold Aspen Earthmoving a couple years ago he stayed on as a consultant and was still very influential with the company.
Among his other business endeavors, Smith once owned the Aspen Airport Conoco located in the Aspen Airport Business Center. Employees remember him.
“He was a very nice man,” said Conoco Supervisor, Marcy Perez, who knew Smith for six years when he owned the Conoco. “He only stopped by once or twice a week but he would always stop in and talk to the employees with a generous smile on his face.”
Perez said she was only an employee when Smith owned the Conoco but said many knew him well as he was very involved.
Smith and his wife Toni Zurcher lived together on Red Mountain for many years.
Even with the celebration of our nations independance just around the corner, Aspen will never forget the deep loss that struck our community only one week ago.