Frank Smith

1921 - 2023

Frank Smith
08/07/1921 - 04/06/2023
Frank Chesley Smith, Jr. died peacefully at his Houston home on April 6, 2023, after a long life of service dedicated to nature preservation, architecture & engineering, flying, sailing, and driving with the top down.

Known affectionately by his family as "Paco", Frank was born in Houston on August 7, 1921, to Frank Chesley Smith and Elizabeth Hail Smith. His father was president and then chairman of Houston Natural Gas, which later became Enron.

Frank found his love of nature as a 12-year-old at Camp Audubon in Colorado. He later helped found and lead many organizations that preserve bayous, bays, and streams (including Buffalo and Armand Bayous, & Galveston Bay); and he helped create public parklands around the State.

He worked with the region's prominent conservationists, such as Terry Hershey, and congressman George H.W. Bush. Together, they helped prevent the US Army Corps of Engineers from paving Buffalo Bayou in concrete, as had been done to many other streams. He was a founding member of what became the Bayou Preservation Association, Memorial Park Conservancy, Armand Bayou Nature Center, Galveston Bay Foundation, and was founding president of Save Buffalo Bayou. He led the boards of the Nature Conservancy of Texas and Rice Design Alliance. As a board member of the Texas A&M Press, he helped publish a book on Houston architect, Birdsall Briscoe.

Frank was particularly proud of the Nature Conservancy's work in acquiring land, along with Texas Parks and Wildlife, for Enchanted Rock State Natural Area and the 300,000-acre Big Bend Ranch State Park. Under his leadership, the Conservancy acquired the 67,000-acre Harte Ranch, which became part of Big Bend National Park, and 2,300 acres for the Honey Creek State Natural Area.

In 2009, Frank received Citizens' Environmental Coalition's Synergy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, he received the Sierra Club's Evelyn R. Edens Award for river conservation. In 2022, he was the honoree at the Galveston Bay Foundation Gala.

At age 15, he designed a model airplane that won the City's junior model airplane championship and then the State's junior model airplane championship. Flying and sailing were lifelong passions, and he built his own sailboat & airplane. He loved being out on his sailboat on Galveston Bay, with a pleasant breeze and a Shiner Bock.

Frank attended Williams College, and in 1944 graduated from Cal Tech with a degree in aeronautical engineering. In World War II, he enlisted in the Navy, becoming an electronics technician. After the war, he enrolled in Rice University in a new-fangled graduate program called "computer science". His team built one of the early computers, about 6 feet tall - now reduced to a microchip. Working as an electrical engineer, he travelled across the US flying in his single-engine Mooney. While serving as a consultant for NASA, he worked on the Saturn rocket boosters, which helped put men on the moon. Frank was instrumental in bringing the first laser to Houston, installing the first CAT scanner at the Texas Medical Center, and introducing magnetic tape recording for oil exploration. In his 80's he patented a design for a "cargo-oriented personal aircraft."

Frank met his second wife, Katherine, at the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, where she knew him as "Mr. Smith", as she was 15 years younger. After they married in 1982, they had many travel adventures: on the Columbia River, in Banff and Lake Louise, in Oshkosh, and sailing on the Sea Cloud. For many years, they spent half their time in the mountains in Summit County, Colorado. They also spent many, many happy days at their home on Galveston Bay. He credited his longevity to having a young wife, and a never-ending honey-do list. He always chose the scenic route, and he and Katherine delighted in finding quaint hamlets, local cafes, and romantic picnic spots off the beaten path.

Frank was predeceased by his eldest son Frank Chesley Smith, III. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Katherine Bel Fay Smith, his sister Avon Duson; his son Stuart Smith (Jerri) and his son Cameron; his son David Smith; by his stepchildren Homoiselle Fay Bujosa (Carlos) and their children Haden, Peter, and Isabel; Cal Sadler (Karen); and Sallie Sadler (Mike), her daughter Kristen and her grandson Case.

"Paco" loved spending time with his grandchildren. One Father's Day, they gave him a card that said, "Grandfather, spending an hour with you is like spending 6 hours watching the Discovery Channel." – a tribute to his great story-telling abilities. He set a great example to them: he was always a gentleman, always expressed gratitude for kindness shown to him, and showed that you are never too old to stop learning. Two days before he died, he was overheard on the telephone renewing his subscription to Scientific American.

Frank did not wish to have a funeral and donated his body to science; however, we're sure he would be pleased if contributions were made to Galveston Bay Foundation, Armand Bayou Nature Center, Save Buffalo Bayou., or to your favorite environmental or conservation organization.