Arthur DeVitalis, Nederland. Valentine’s Day is a tradition rife with gifts, dinners, movies and more. But those things alone can’t sustain a relationship or make it successful. But what is true love? To Mike and Jeanette Smith, and now daughter Sheila and son-in-law Ed Ranegar, it’s “compassion, forgiveness, safety and loyalty.”

The story of love and family always starts with two. In Mike and Jeanette Smith’s story, the story continues on in the generations of their six children. Love isn’t buying a surplus of gifts on Valentine’s Day or on any holiday. It’s about consistency, the initial passion, and a true desire to work as a team. 

Mike and Jeanette met in Nederland when Mike was 14 years old. His parents were Irene, a school teacher and Joe, a miner who was eventually a Boulder County Commissioner.

Jane, then Jeanette McDonald’s mother, managed the young girls’ camp in the Old Antler’s Hotel. Jeanette was spending the summer in Nederland, which was in the middle of a mining boom. Mike rode his bike to the camp. Pedaling by, he noticed Jeanette, describing her from memory as a “scrawny little thing,” and he knew. From that day forward, he was adamant about spending the rest of his life with her, in time and marriage.

In a letter entitled “My Valentine”, Jeanette wrote, “I watched Mike ride his bike near Camp Montrita one summer. The next summer, he had the courage to ask me to go on a bike ride with him. We went from Camp Montrita to the Eldora turnoff. We each had the old-fashioned wide tire, one speed bikes. At that time, there was a trail through the woods back toward the now YMCA camp off the West Magnolia Road. We rode our bikes to a little pond that Brownlee Guyer called the Tennessee Pond for the nearby Tennessee Mountain. I tried to find the pond the next summer, but because Colorado was at the beginning of a drought in the early 1950’s, I could not find it. It had turned into a big grassy place. Every time the Seniors Snow Show passed the pond it brings back fond memories of the first time Mike and I visited the pond so many years ago.” The romance continued throughout their marriage, interspersed with a healthy fight then and again, but still bound by matrimony and compromise. 

Mike graduated from Nederland High School in 1953.  Their high school yearbook predicted that Mike would attend the School of Mines and live in India. He was the lead in the school play, class president, and was passionate about participating in nearly every sport offered. 

Jeanette says love is the biggest key to a successful relationship. To her, it’s wonderful, challenging and fulfilling, all at the same time. If arguments arose, they’d leave for a while and give each other space. She said that this was key to get feelings off the chest. Even with past arguments involving forgotten salt at a picnic, and other stories, they’d learn to laugh about it later. 

“Where’s the salt, Jeanette?” Mike would say, resulting in the two laughing over the fit over something so trivial. It put arguments into perspective, with anger rarely worth the further upheaval. 

A box of chocolates appeared on Jeanette’s doorstop in Denver on Valentine’s Day in 1953, complete with an unsigned card. At the time, the date that dropped her off was rife with jealousy. She never saw the date again after that, but she knew exactly who the gift came from. Mike would drop into Denver and visit Jeanette whenever he could.

After a year of dating, Mike and Jeanette tied the knot together in 1954. He was 19, and she was 17. Mike worked in local mines on and off. After he tired of the mining life, he worked construction. He and Jeanette had six babies together, Pete, Sheila, Jim, Mark, Joe and Diane. Mark Smith passed away in 2019 after a battle with cancer.

They weren’t just a family. They were a force of positivity, productivity and prowess in the community. They were a camp and a team. All six Smith children attended school in Ned, but four brothers and two sisters meant that there was a lot of food to provide on the table. Over seven years between 1955 and 1962, taking care and raising the family was challenging for the parents. 

Jeanette volunteered at the school and then began working as a teacher’s aide. She continued to do so even after the children moved out. Jeanette ended up working 29 years at Nederland Elementary School. She was also a docent at the Nederland Mining Museum.

Jeanette was an original organizer of the Old Timers’ Days. She’s served as Grand Marshal and organizer, and even handed out certificates to those appointed as “Old Timers.” Her family photo albums and scrapbooks contain history and along with it, a part of the story of Nederland itself. Jeanette Smith’s rhubarb and strawberry pie became a legend in its own right. 

Mike worked mining and construction jobs to support the Smith clan. He has always been an iconic figure in mining history.  

Even in 1986, the couple continued to laugh when signing into hotels as “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” knowing that they were both as faithful as a couple could be. 

“Jeanette has been a good mother, a good wife, and still has a mind of her own. She’s the same gal I married,” Mike said, quoted from the February 13, 1986, edition of The Mountain-Ear newspaper. 

In 2012, a party was held at the Stage Stop Restaurant to honor the Smith’s and their significant contribution to local history. They recognized the old timers who helped create Nederland’s colorful mining legends. 

Today, Jeanette and Mike are still around the town, with the latter half of the couple residing in an assisted living facility in Longmont. Jeanette is still active in the Nederland area, and continues to contribute historical photos and her family history to those interested around town. 

They celebrated their Golden Anniversary 17 years ago. She and Mike took many a road trip in Colorado together, and even took a cruise ship of the inside passage of Alaska in August of 2002. She visits his window once a week since the Covid-19 pandemic began. They’re never far from a visit, and the bond that connects them is much stronger than a pane of glass.  

But did the tradition of a long-standing and sustained marriage continue in the family? Sheila (Smith) and Ed Ranegar certainly think so. 

To love is to change, and to grow alongside another in a healthy way. Ed grew up in Pittsburg and transitioned to Nederland in 1980, four years before their marriage in August of 1984. He began working as a carpenter and then became a general contractor. In 2005, he bought a crane. Fast forward to present day, and Ed is the owner of Mountain Side Crane Service and works with his son Luke. Clearly, hard work and the ladder-climb has been fruitful for Ed, similar to Sheila’s father. 

Sheila was born and raised in Nederland. Mike bought her a horse at age eight. By the time that she was 11, she was already hard at work as a guide at the local riding stables. She graduated Nederland High School and after a year in college, she started working at the Nederland Supermarket. 

To make ends meet, she had a house cleaning business, and continued to teach a few horseback riding lessons. Later, she worked at the Eldora Nordic Center. She was a ski instructor for 20 years during the winters and became an instructor at the Nederland Equestrian School in 2006.  Sheila coached the Middle and High School Nordic Ski Teams for 12 years. Today, she and Ed own the Rising Sun Ranch, where she is a full-time riding instructor. Her passion for horseback riding and the equestrians, however, never faded from childhood. She and Ed have rescued horses and given them a comfortable home in Colorado. 

They met at the Nederland Supermarket, now known as Nature’s Own, where Sheila worked at the time.  

“We fell in love during a dance at the Stage Stop and have been together ever since,” said the couple. 

But it wasn’t always easy. 

“We were very poor when our boys were young. We have been sober for 21 years, and Valentine’s Day is our sobriety birthday,” said Sheila and Ed. “The biggest thing we’ve overcome together is supporting each other through the deaths for family members.”

So, what are their best qualities, according to each other? “Ed is loving, loyal, generous,” Sheila said. “Sheila is incredible, kind and takes really good care of me,” smiled Ed in return. 

They say the key to balance in any relationship is communication and being nice to each other. This relationship was different for both of them than others, because they were highly compatible from the start. Love even became more than they expected in the long run. 

“Love is way more than what we expected, because we are not argumentative with each other,” they said. 

Together, they spend time with their boys and grandchildren, emphasizing family first. In terms of hobbies and interests, they bond over hiking, horses, skiing, camping, eating out together, soaking it up in the hot springs, and traveling. As a couple, they’ve grown spiritually in unison over their 37 years of marriage. 

They’ve had many wonderful dates and trips and had a beautiful bash for their 25th wedding anniversary. They hosted a barn dance with a huge turnout, complete with a live band and warm wishes for the next 25 years. 

“It was almost like another wedding,” Ed laughed. But their first date characterized how both would go the extra mile for each other in the years to come.

“Our very first official date was very memorable. Ed loaned his jeep to a friend who wrecked it, so he and his new puppy picked me up in a 1960 Dodge one ton dump truck and drove to Boulder to the Hungry Farmer, one of the nicer restaurants at that time,” they said. “Then, we went to a movie. We were quite the sight all dressed up in a beat-up old dump truck.”

Love isn’t about flash, luxury, or dazzling impressions. Passion is fleeting but love and companionship last much longer. It’s about making ends meet, care and showing true compassion and understanding for those that choose to spend a lifetime together. It’s about sacrifice, long hours, and even space at the right time. A heavy and broken heart can always be mended, for the right person willing to give up their pride and surrender to another. Through love, loss, heartbreak and joy, the people that truly matter are the ones that continue to stand, side by side. 

For Mike and Jeanette, and Ed and Sheila, the institution of family, and true love continues as a shining model to others. Be kind to others, show love, and most importantly this Valentine’s Day, show you understand and truly care for another. 

From their 25th wedding anniversary of Mike and Jeanette, a charred wooden plaque still reads “Love gives nought but itself and takes nought but from itself; Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.” 

“We hope that you can feel, as we, that love will ever last; Thanks for sharing memories of our Golden treasured past,” reads the invitation from Mike and Jeanette’s Golden Anniversary. To love is to learn, live, and grow with another, creating a family and foundation for future generations as we know it. 

(Originally published in the February 11, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)