Chris 'Smitty' Smith

[Richard Schollar]

EDIT: I'm very sorry to say that Smitty passed away this morning. Fare thee well in the next life my friend


Posted with permission of Cyndi (Smitty's wife) - linked from this thread on Facebook

Cyndi McLendon Smith Oh my gosh, guys! I've been trying to figure out how to get the word out. Thank you all for sharing this post. I'm so sorry to say that Smitty is entering home hospice care. In January, he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer that has very recently and aggressively spread to his liver and hip bones. He has fought so hard. It has been a terrible and painful journey. He is barely lucid now and I fear I'm losing him more quickly than we ever thought. We'd love to read him any comments you guys have for Chris Smith "Smitty" <3

Although less active on this board in recent years, Smitty was one of the experts I first met on MrExcel.com way back in 2004/5 and he was a great guy from the first we spoke. I met him and Cyndi in person at the Seattle MVP Summit in 2009 and have so many fond memories from that time. The MrExcel guys met up at the 'Rock Bottom' and sunk beers and talked about the Board and stuff. It was a great time. I wish Smitty, his wife and daughter, Campbell, the best and I know they'd be grateful if those who likewise have fond memories of Smitty post in the thread below (or on Fb).

I'll be letting Cyndi know this thread is here so she can read some of the comments to Smitty.

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

Thanks for sharing this Richard. This is indeed very sad and I feel very bad for Smitty and family.

Smitty, thank you for your friendship. It is a huge pleasure to know you and I remember our chats very fondly and only wish we could have sunk some beers together. I recall you offered your RV for when I visit. It's still on my bucket list bro.

 

[mole999]

Hope Smitty remains comfortable

 

[MARK858]

Oh no, Smitty was so helpful to me when I first came on the board.
My love and best wishes to him and his family during this trying time.

 

[Jaafar Tribak]

Smitty,I am so sorry to hear about what you are going through. You have been an asset to the MrExcel board since its inception and a great help to so many excel users worldwide... Thank you for the thousand times you cheered us with your presence and for answering so many posts (mine and others)

My best wishes to you and to your family.

 

[Joe4]

I am very sorry to hear this. I have really enjoyed my conversations with Smitty over the years. Not only is he a great guy, he is very interesting and had some of the best stories. He always struck me as someone who lived life to the fullest, and had lots of adventures.

My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

 

[Oaktree]

Incredibly sad news. One of my first DMs on this board was to Smitty, asking for a few suggestions on things to do in San Diego, where he was living at the time. He replied with a thesis of suggestions and an invitation to join him ice climbing.

Typical Smitty. A legend on this board and in life.

 

[WebVixn]

Smitty loved his Mr. Excel time!! And he cherished the friendships he made helping people around the world with Microsoft Excel. And he lived to help out (as you well know). I'm humbled by the huge outpouring of sympathy and well wishes we have received as people are finding out. Please know that all the memories and stories and gratitude and well wishes really do help us. Your words are a comfort. I'm reading all the messages to him, but he's barely with us at the moment. Thanks so much for sharing his friendship and helping us to celebrate his life.

Sincerely,

Cyndi Smith, Smitty's biggest fan (and wife) <3

 

[RoryA]

Just when I thought this year couldn't get any worse. This is such devastating news and my heart goes out to his family.

Like for many others, Smitty was one of the first contacts I had here and he was always great to chat to. Clearly with a great love of adventure and a challenge - never mind ice-climbing, he was willing to try and fix Microsoft's documentation! I'm gutted I never made it to a summit to meet him in person as he was clearly one of those rare people who are actualy as cool in real life as online. Keeping everything crossed for a miracle.

 

[MrExcel]

Smitty was passionate about Excel. He has over 29K posts here. His first 25 years of work were on ranches in many states and Australia where he convinced the ranch owners to move from paper ledgers to Excel. I remember my first lunch with Smitty - my son Zeke was there, along with MrsExcel. Smitty had great stories of his recent bear hunting trip or rock climbing. He spent one hour with Zeke, probably 15 years ago, but asked about him every time we talked!

I talked to Cyndi this morning and I am organizing a virtual Run / Walk / Ride this week #ForSmitty. If you use Strava or Polar to track your exercise routine, take one ride / walk / run this week (June 23-28 2020) #ForSmitty. Post a selfie of you on the ride and a screenshot of the ride on Twitter with the #ForSmitty hashtag. Cyndi will share these with Smitty. Next week, Holy Macro! Books will send all participants a link to download an e-book of Smitty's Excel 2019 Business Basics and Beyond e-book for free and will donate $10 to a scholarship fund for Smitty's daughter.