Robert Glen Smick

Born March 21, 1930, in Endicott, WA to George and Katherine (Morasch) Smick. He graduated as a Valedictorian of his class from Endicott High School in 1948. After receiving his BA degree from Washington State University and having gone through the ROTC program there, he spent several years as a Lieutenant in the US Air Force serving in the Mediterranean area. Later he received his MA from Whitworth University. In 1956, he began his career in education first teaching at Coulee Dam High School (now Lake Roosevelt High School). From 1958 to 1963, he taught at John Rogers High School in Spokane. In 1963, when the Community Colleges of Spokane were formed, he was in the first group hired. Here he enjoyed a challenging and successful career as an instructor and administrator in the Business Division. In addition to receiving awards for outstanding instructor, he received the Washington State Business Education Merit Award. He was a member of the National Education Association, the Washington State Education Association, and the Association of Higher Education at the Community Colleges of Spokane, serving as an officer including president. Membership also included the Washington State Business Education and the Eastern Washington Business Education Association. He served as an officer in both, including president of EWBEA. After his career in education, he volunteered at the Barton School and was the long term (20 years) director of Project Joy, a city sponsored nonprofit entertainment organization where he sang with the Minstrels. He and his wife, Flora, stayed in a number of hostels in the United States and traveled extensively throughout the world. Switzerland was his favorite country, where they hiked throughout the Alps and rode cable cars to the villages unserviceable by automobile. He was a descendant of the Germans from Russia (both sets of grandparents came to the United States from Russia). His extensive research of family history included a trip to his ancestral village, Jagodnaja Poljana, near the Volga River in Russia. His interest in genealogy and family history led to finding cousins exiled to.