- Date Of Birth: April 21, 1949
- Date Of Death: December 18, 2017
- State: Colorado
Delbert Vernard Smith was born in Denver, Colorado on April 21, 1949; the middle child of Sgt. Johnnie Smith and Hattie Bee Ford-Smith. He was raised with his older brother, Doyce Smith (Denver, CO) and his younger brother, Kelvin D. Smith (deceased). As part of a military family, Delbert traveled to Japan with his parents and celebrated his fifth birthday on board a military vessel at sea. Delbert graduated from Denver’s East High School in 1967. He was very athletic; he played basketball, football and participated in track and field, earning letters in each sport. After high school, Delbert attended college on a football and track scholarship, first at North Platte Junior College in Nebraska and then the University of Wyoming. He played collegiate basketball, and participated in the discus throw and pole-vaulting. His physical strength was literally phenomenal, and at one point in his life, he could actually lift a car off the ground with his bare hands.
