Northern Nevada planning icon dead at 84

A casual gathering to celebrate the life of Raymond Smith, 84, who died July 6, 2007 in Minden, will be held at 1647 Mackland Avenue, the home of his son Scott, on Thursday, July 12 from 3 p.m.-7 p.m.

He was born in San Francisco, California May 19, 1923, the only child of Raymond D. and Martina M. Smith of that city. Both parents preceded him in death. He was raised in San Francisco, attended Lowell High School before entering Stanford University in 1941.

In 1942 he enlisted in the armed services, graduating as a bombardier (USAF) in 1944. He was then stationed at Lecce in southern Italy flying combat missions in a B-24 against Brenner Pass, Vienna, and bridges in Yugoslavia. He returned in 1945 and was discharged as a first lieutenant in September of that year. Mr. Smith remained in the Reserve and retired as a Major in 1966.

He returned to Stanford graduating in June 1947. He then attended the School of Design at Harvard University, graduating in 1949 with a Masters degree in City Planning, then one of the very few such degrees in the U.S. He was a 55 plus year member of the American Institute of City Planners, one of the longest of record.

Smith came to Reno in the fall of 1949 as the first trained City Planner in the State of Nevada and was appointed Director of the newly formed Regional Planning Commission of Reno, Sparks and Washoe County, a position he held for 10 years. During that time he was also the first Director of the Western Nevada Industrial Development Commission and the first Director of the Reno Urban Renewal Agency. He was also very active in Tahoe Basin planning matters representing Washoe, Ormsby and Douglas Counties and served as Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee. In 1959 he became the first Executive Director of LTAC. A private planning organization devoted to introducing regional (bi-state) planning into the Basin. In 1960 he became Vice President of the Crystal Bay Development Co. engaged in planning and development activities for the new community of Incline Village (which he named). In 1963 he left to open a Planning Consultant Office in Reno and during the next 35 years was active in various planning efforts in 10 Northern Nevada counties. He was also a strong supporter of libraries and served as a Trustee and Chairman of the Douglas County Library system and as a member and chairman of the Governor's Council on Libraries.

Smith married Miss Margaret May (Stork) of the Netherlands in Reno in 1950; this union produced four sons, all native Nevadans; Willem (Wim), Cole, Gage, Scott. Two are real estate professionals and one a building contractor, all in the Carson Valley; the other is a retired school teacher in Elko. There are also four grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife of over 57 years and all four sons. He enjoyed outdoor activities and was an ardent bird hunter, hiker and explorer, much of it in the then seldom visited expanses of the Black Rock Desert country.

He was also a capable artist, producing watercolor and ink vignettes of old buildings (especially barns), ghost towns and desert scenes.

From 1991 he became deeply involved in the history of western Nevada especially the Carson, Smith and Eagle Valleys and during the next 10 years he wrote and produced 13 books all concerning little know details of people, places and events in those areas. These included a definitive study of Nevada's Northwest corner (the Black Rock country) as well as a review of the Saloons of old/new Nevada, among others.

Cremation is under the direction of Capitol Mortuary and at his specific request the ashes will be scattered over the desert he loved so much.