Theodore Gerald Smith

Theodore Gerald Smith

Born March 15, 1940, drag racer, entrepreneur, devoted father and grandfather, age 77 of Big Lake, MN passed away in his sleep on December 20, 2017.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Gerald and Isabelle (nee. Gould) Smith, and sister Gail Goebel.  He is survived by his daughters: Rebecca Bastiaens (Wim), Natina James (Tedd), Jessica Klinger (John), and Jennifer Holmes (Patrick Brandt); grandchildren: Benjamyn and Alex James, Katja and Ilsa Bastiaens, Anthony Klingler, and Trevor Holmes; sister: Carol Goodoien; and former spouse, Carolyn Smith.  A celebration of his life will be held 2pm Saturday, January 6 at Gearty-Delmore Plymouth Chapel, 15800 37th Ave. N. in Plymouth.  Visitation 1 hour prior.

He started his company, Smith Auto, out of the rear end of his souped up Cadillac hearse in 1961.  He was well known for his timing, distributors, and carburation.  Legend has it that he crystalized three axles street racing his father’s new car and dodging Minneapolis police in one week alone.  He left the University of Minnesota with only 8 credits left to grow the business into a high performance auto parts store on Lake Street in Minneapolis.  He was a regular at Minnesota Dragways, a member of the Gopher State Timing Association, and Quads Car club.

He gave up his dragster to marry Carolyn Hosp in 1966. He continued his love affair with racing by buying Grove Creek Raceway in 1985 and building a drag strip in 1987, where he oversaw his four daughters’ countless weekends running the clocks and burnout box, checking in racers at tech, collecting tickets, running concessions, and yes, serving as trophy girls.  He taught all four daughters to work on their cars.  Ironically, his last car was his “little red truck,” a slow poke Prius.  His love of cars was shared with his grandchildren attending “Back to the 50's” car shows, his favorite being 1957 Chevy.

In addition to co-editing the monthly magazine, Minnesota Dog, he is also remembered for training and handling Minnesota’s first Belgian Tervuren champion CD dog, Nightwatch Bronze Bell Zeus, in 1969.  His last dogs were his devoted border collie, Willie, and alpaca guard dog, Daisy.

Before moving to Big Lake, he was a long time resident of Medina, where he indulged his daughters with a menagerie of pets, including cows, goats, sheep, horses, a skunk, a raccoon, rabbits, a dog for every kid, guard geese and rescued ducks at the “Funny Farm” on Hamel Road.  The farm benefited from his gardening skills.  He was especially proud of his lilac hedge.  He continued to grow flowers from seed every year to plant in his garden and to share, and to fight the rabbits.  He coached soccer and fast pitch teams for his daughters, including “Our Gang.”

His last careers were as an alpaca rancher, in partnership with his daughter Becca, and as a doting grandfather.  He is best known for his 2009 color champions, ADN Pretty Woman by Shakespeare and ADN El Duque by Black Jade, and his reserve champion, Show of Dreams.  He spent lots of time with his grandchildren and he recruited them to help show the alpacas across the country.

His family will remember him as always smiling and stubborn as hell.  In lieu of flowers, we request that donations be made to Audubon Minnesota, in honor of his love of birds, especially cardinals and woodpeckers, or the Border Collie Rescue of Minnesota.

Visitation 1 hour prior to Celebration of Life Service on Saturday.

Saturday, January 6, 2018 02:00 PM

Gearty-Delmore Plymouth Chapel 15800 37th Avenue North Plymouth, MN 55446

Visitation 1 hour prior to Celebration of Life Service on Saturday.