Craig Smith

Craig Ervin Smith, 77, of Cockeysville, passed away on July 18, 2025 after a courageous battle with Parkinson's disease and cancer.

Born in Baltimore on January 19, 1948, Craig was the son of Mary Lyle Glotfelty, a homemaker, and Ervin S. Smith Jr., an accountant and a decorated World War II combat veteran.

Craig was the valedictorian of the Towson High School Class of 1966. He graduated from Yale College in 1970, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to earn his law degree from Yale Law School in 1973.

After law school, Craig served as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard T. Rives of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Montgomery, Alabama. Judge Rives was one of several progressive appellate judges whose opinions and rulings ushered in the civil rights movement.

After his federal clerkship, Craig joined the firm Venable Baetjer and Howard, as an Associate and then as a Partner, where he practiced litigation, including family law matters. Venable partner Stewart Webb described Craig as "a zealous advocate for his clients who always practiced with great professionalism and civility. He cared deeply about Venable and was rightfully proud of his long and distinguished career with us. Craig was an exceptional lawyer and friend, and I look back fondly on practicing law with him, more importantly, on our 50 years of friendship."

After working at Venable for over 30 years, Craig joined a small family law firm in Towson. As an Adjunct Professor, he also taught a class on Family Law at the University of Maryland Law School for a number of years before his retirement.

Craig believed in the settlement of cases, especially family law disputes. He published an article in the ABA Litigation Magazine entitled "The Settlement of Family Law Disputes Gets No Respect." He subscribed to the biblical statement: "Blessed be the peacemakers, and they shall be called children of God."

In 1970, Craig married his high school sweetheart, Mary-Elizabeth Wood, a licensed clinical social worker. They raised two sons in Stoneleigh, where they lived for over 40 years.

He was an avid reader of mystery novels, and was a jogger and bicyclist for many years. He appreciated nature and tending to plants and flowers at his home.

He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Mary-Beth Smith; his brother Kent Smith of Edgewater, MD; and his two sons and their families: Taylor and Ana Smith, with daughters Natalie and Lucia of New York, NY; and Garrett and Catie Smith with daughters Lexi and Julia of Wellesley, MA.

He will be remembered by family and friends as kind, decent, and honorable.