Elliott Clovis Smith

Clovis Elliott Smith known in the professional world as Elliott Clovis Smith, was born on May 20, 1944, in French Camp, California to Elliott Octavia & Luteria Williams-Ferguson-Smith. Elliott C. Smith, 76, of DeSoto, TX passed away unexpectedly on March 19, 2021 following a brief illness. Clovis was a Vietnam Veteran, serving in the U S Army as a Medical Paratrooper. Clovis loved education and what he could achieve with it. He held multiple Master degrees and certificates. Beginning in 1974 Elliott began what would become a long, distinguished 34-year career with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in San Francisco, CA. Elliott would go on to work in such locations as the Latin American Office, the Sacramento Office, the Far East Office, Washington D.C., the European Office, and finally the Dallas Office. Elliott worked on a multitude of defense, energy and international trade – most notably work involving the Panama Canal Treaty and construction of the Pan American Highway. Elliott ultimately became the first Regional Director for GAO’s Central Region. Prior to his retirement from the GAO, Elliott established a recruitment program in the Central Region that is still known for hiring top-level professionals. Upon retiring from GAO in 2005, Elliott decided that he wanted to teach so he went back to school and got his teacher’s certificate and taught middle and high school grade Spanish at several schools in Texas. He was very passionate about the Spanish language and went above and beyond to immerse his students into the language and culture. During his spare time Elliott enjoyed spending time and traveling with his beautiful wife Connie of 55 years – some of their favorite places they enjoyed traveling to included Mexico, Panama, and taking cruises to Cuba and Jamaica. Elliott enjoyed reading – especially newspapers (at one point in time subscribing to over 10 different newspapers) and he would often read the “noticias” on a daily basis to keep up with current events from Europe, Latin America and the United States. He had an immense love for all sports. As an athlete he participated in baseball, wrestling and even judo. He enjoyed watching countless boxing matches, kept up with college wrestling and was an avid fan of professional soccer. He also enjoyed watching Tom Brady play football be it playing for the New England Patriots or winning the Super Bowl recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also loved to work out and jog. He was very pivotal in the development of his grand-children. They all enjoyed spending many summers with him learning to swim and time spent in the library. He is preceded in death by both parents, two sisters Versie Mae and Virsia Lee, two brothers, James Earl Smith and Jerry Lewis Smith. He is survived by his wife, Connie of DeSoto, TX; brother William Lee (Willie) of Clarksville, Texas; and two sons, Clovis II (Roberta) of Stockton, CA; Lumumba (Melanie) of Scranton, PA; three daughters, Luteria (Arthur) of Lancaster, TX; Mekela (Jamie) of Portsmouth, VA; and Chauncey (Robert) of Stockton, CA. Thirteen grand-children; five great grand-children and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Visitation is scheduled for Wednesday - March 24, 2021 from 1 - 4:00 P.M. at West/Hurtt Funeral Home, 217 S. Hampton Rd., DeSoto, TX 75115. Visitation is scheduled for Monday - March 29, 2021 from 9:00 A.M. until 12:NOON with Graveside Services to begin at 1:00 P.M. (same day), under the direction of Cherokee Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Harney Lane @ Hwy. 99, Lodi, CA 95241, 209-334-9613.