Walter G. Smyth ’60

A U.S. diplomat’s son, Walt was educated in several places. He graduated from Bedford Modern School in Bedford, U.K., before a prep year at the University of Grenoble, France. With us, he became captain of the freshman crew and rowed varsity for two years. He majored in politics and joined Cottage Club, the French Club, and the Marine Corps Semper Fi Society.

Walt served three years as an officer in the Marines before joining Armco Steel in Middleton, Ohio. He enjoyed advancement and a promising career until the time of our 25th reunion, when the rapid decline of the U.S. steel industry brought down Armco and almost all of the industry in short order. As other Rust Belt industries withered, Walt ruefully described himself as a poster boy for America’s industrial decline.

He then began a second career in commercial real estate in Florida. That industry suffered its own travails in the 1980s and ’90s, but Walt carried on and made a good career of it until gradual retirement after our 50th. Always a good citizen, he was active in civic works through both his careers and was a lifelong avid angler.

Walt died May 22, 2025, of complications of a stroke. He was predeceased by his wife, Madeline. He is survived by five children and six grandchildren. Our sympathies to all the family.