Calvin Schwartz Smith was born on May 29, 1890, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joseph F. Smith and Mary Taylor Schwartz. In 1910, he was called to serve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Swiss and German Mission, where he served until 1913. From 1915 to 1918, Smith served as an instructor at LDS College. On September 28, 1917, he married Ethel Lucile Dimond, and they had seven children together.

In February 1918, Smith was called to serve as an active duty army chaplain for the Ninety-First Infantry Division, and was to primarily look over the nearly 1,800 members of the Church in that division. He was one of three Latter-day Saints to be called to serve as chaplains during World War I. The other two were Herbert B. Maw and B. H. Roberts. Smith did have some combat experiences, often in medical units, and was wounded twice. Joseph F. Smith died before Calvin's return from the battlefields.

After his return from the war, Smith began a career in education. He attended the University of Utah, where he earned a master's degree in education. In 1924, he was appointed as superintendent of the Juab County School District in Nephi, Utah. In 1927, Smith left to earn his doctorate degree in education at the University of Chicago. After receiving his PhD, he taught education courses at the University of Utah.

In 1929, Smith was selected to serve as the superintendent of the Granite School District in Salt Lake County, where he served until 1939. In 1938, he was selected as a member of the first Salt Lake County Library Board. Smith also served on the Granite School District Board of Education for ten years, and was a member of the Salt Lake County Library Association a member of the executive board Utah State Library Association. A Granite School District elementary school in Taylorsville, Utah, and a branch of the Salt Lake County Library are named in his honor.

Calvin Schwartz Smith died June 15, 1966, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ethel Lucile Dimond was born July 31, 1897, to Thomas Walter Dimond and Nora Bennion. She married Calvin Schwartz Smith, son of Latter-day Saint Church President Joseph F. Smith, on September 28, 1917. Together they had 13 children. Lucile was awarded the "Utah Mother of the Year" award in 1962. Lucile passed away August 15, 1986, in Torrance, California.