Richard Smith

On August 17, 2021, F. Richard "Dick" Smith passed from this life to the next, passing away from natural causes in Grants Pass, Oregon. Dick was born in Reno, NV on December 31, 1927 to Roy R. and Marie E. (Moggie) Smith. He grew up in Salt Lake City where he developed his skill as a skier and in high school served as the youngest member of the ski patrol.

The family moved to Sacramento where he attended college, married and had two daughters. He relocated to Redding in the late 50s where he built and opened Redding’s first pizza parlor, The Longhorn. He was extremely active in little theater, both as an actor and director. At one time he had his own radio show, "Poor Richard's Almanac" where he interviewed popular Dan Blocker, "Hoss" on "Bonanza".

After a divorce he returned to Sacramento and embarked on his career as Senior Special Investigator in the Weights and Measures Department for the State of California. He met his second wife, Carol, at a Parents Without Partners dance. Dick could cut rug! He moved to Hugo, Oregon in 1997 where he remarried his second wife, Carol.

Dick was a Renaissance man. A rugged outdoorsman, enjoying fly fishing and hunting as well as attending live theater and enjoying various genres of music. From Bach to Big Band to Boogie. He played a mean self-taught boogie on the piano as well as playing percussion on anything he could get his hands on. Particularly bongos. He could be ornery and had a sarcastic sense of humor that went along with his practical jokes. Dick loved words and often wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper, arguing his point of view eloquently. He also put his hand to writing poetry.

For almost 60 years, heaven for Dick was his land in the Siskiyou mountains, ‘The Ranch’ as he called it, where he and his father built a cabin that has stood the test of time. He could be found there on all holidays and any spare time, thinning Silver Tip Christmas trees, chopping wood, spraying Ribes, shooting and enjoying the sounds of silence. Sitting on his stump in the evenings, facing the sunset, highball in hand, he would commune with God. This was his happy place and will be his final resting place, spread among the trees in the land he loved so well. He is pre-deceased by both parents and his brother Robert Smith.

He is survived by his widow Carol and his daughters, Cindy Griswold, Janine Joi [Steve P.] Grandson John Barrett, [Almie] and granddaughter, Sabrina Griswold.