Kayo Smith

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TORRINGTON – Grave side memorial services for Kayo Smith, 91, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, at Valley View Cemetery with Pastor Rick Carroll officiating. Military honors will be by the U.S. Navy. Kayo died Aug. 18, 2019, at Goshen Healthcare Community. In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to the donor’s choice. Arrangements are by the Colyer Funeral Home and condolences may be sent to www.colyerfuneralhome.com.

Kayo was born Sept. 17, 1927, in Curtis, Neb., the son of F. Norris and Beulah (Maxcy) Smith. At 13, he became the youngest Eagle Scout in Nebraska. He graduated from Bayard, Neb. High School in 1945. In July 1945, he joined the U.S. Navy and later transferred to the Naval Reserves. 

He married Betty Jean Lyman on Aug. 27, 1950, in Bayard. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry, Zoology and Pre-Med. In 1954, he graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha-College of Medicine with a Doctorate in Medicine. He served a one-year internship and a one-year residency in California and then did three months in Lahania, Hawaii, before returning to Bayard for a year. In 1957 they moved to Torrington, where he started with the Torrington Medical Group, which later united to become Banner Health. He retired in 2016 and entered the Goshen Healthcare Community in 2017.

Kayo enjoyed ranching (raising Charolais cattle), fishing, backpacking, hunting and sailing. He was a past member of the American Medical Association, was a member of the Wyoming Medical Association, the Western History Center, the American Legion and the United Methodist Church. He had served on the Torrington City Council and as an assistant Boy Scout Leader.

Kayo is survived by his wife Betty Jean Smith of Torrington; two sons Steven Norris (Marion) Smith of Torrington and Todd Kayo Smith of Ft. Laramie; a daughter Joanne Lora (Richard) Zimmerman of Chandler, Ariz.; a sister Maxcy Jean Kopell of Moab, Utah; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a grandson.