Richard G. Smith ’53

A tragic automobile accident took the lives of Dick, his wife, Sally; their son, Matthew; and Matthew’s daughter, Laura, on June 3, 2010, as they were driving in Napa County, Calif. Dick’s daughter, Jennifer Madura, said they were on a two-lane road heavily traveled by truckers.

Dick prepared at Lawrenceville, where, Cowles Herr recalls, he was an honor student with a “refreshing cerebral intellect.” Louis Waddell, secretary of Lawrenceville’s Class of ’49, remembers Dick was an accomplished singer, and although not particularly athletically inclined, entered an intramural track meet at the school in civilian clothes and astonishingly won the event.  

At Princeton he was majoring in history and belonged to Court Club when he transferred to Denison University. Unfortunately for us, he did not keep in touch. After Denison, he earned an M.B.A. from Cornell, served in the Army, and was a valued officer for United Bank & Trust Co. of Hartford, Conn. Sally attended Denison and the Institut Brittannique de la Sorbonne before receiving a bachelor’s degree in French at Cornell.  

Besides Jennifer and her husband, Mark, Dick is survived by his daughter-in-law, Jennifer Smith; sister Marty Allegaert; and three grandchildren. We grieve with them.