Phillip Charles Esser Smith

With his loving wife at his side and surrounded with the love of his entire family, Phillip Charles Esser Smith died at age 86 on July 21, 2025, after a four-and-a-half-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia that followed a faithful, rich, and fiercely independent life.
Phil was born in Fargo, North Dakota, on November 30, 1938, to Thomas O. ("T.O.") and Aileen Louise Smith (née Esser). After graduating from Central High, he began his studies at the College of St. Thomas in Minneapolis before earning a business degree at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He began his career at the family business, then known as Dakota Hardware and later as Smith Distributing, originally formed as a harness and leather goods company by his grandfather, C.O. Smith, in the Dakota Territory. A lover of hunting and wildlife (with the exception of red squirrels, whose enmity he wore as a badge of courage in later years), he remained in the outdoor sporting goods industry through a career spanning four decades. After the sale of the family business, he worked in positions in Ohio and Minnesota before starting his own business, which he sold at his full-time retirement.
But Phil would say that his career highlights were secondary. In particular, the highlight of his life was his chance meeting of Elizabeth (Liz) Hinz, who capsized her sailboat near his parents' cabin on Pelican Lake. After helping her right the boat, a romance matured into engagement and their marriage on June 17, 1967.
Phil and Liz had a life-long love of the lakes of the Northwoods. From a summer cottage on Lake Belletaine, they made the move to be full-time residents of Park Rapids in 1996. There they bought a log-sided home nestled in pristine woods on the shores of Fish Hook Lake that they christened as WildWood Lodge. They operated WildWood as the innkeepers of a three-room bed-and-breakfast for many years, hosting guests and treating them to their hospitality, Liz's homemade breakfasts, and rides aboard Phil's vintage Chris Craft.
They enjoyed many active years in retirement. Phil was deeply committed to giving back to the community as a volunteer. After earlier service with the Boy Scouts, Rotary, and the Lakeville Planning Commission, among others, Phil served Park Rapids through the Lions, Kinship, and as a devoted volunteer with Living at Home, where he met dear friends (more than clients) whom he served through companionship and assistance. He enjoyed biking with the Hubbard Biking Club near home and on group excursions.
Phil was a devout and deeply committed Catholic and a parishioner of St. Peter in Park Rapids. Over his faith journey, he was a Knight of Columbus in Fargo and was passionate about various charities and ministries including Upward Bound, Food for the Poor, and the St. Vincent De Paul Society.
Phil was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Aileen Louise Smith Gaasch, and his parents-in-law John F. and Carol Hinz. He is survived by Liz, his bride of 58 years, with whom they had three children, Phillip or "P.J." (Nancy) of Colorado; Sarah (Barry) Gisser of Edina, Minnesota; and Laura (Brooks) Hynes of Nova Scotia. They have four grandchildren: Nicholas and Rebecca Smith and Isabel and Emily Gisser.
Phil was attended in his final days by an unrivaled care team at CHI St. Joseph Hospital in Park Rapids before a transfer to Crystal Brook, where equally dedicated and compassionate staff from there and the St. Joseph hospice team assisted him and his family.
Visitation will be at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 25, 2025, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Park Rapids, with Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 10:00 a.m. with Father Joe Richards presiding, whom Phil much admired. Family and friends are invited to gather for a luncheon after mass at the Headwaters Golf Club (20018 County Road 1, Park Rapids) from 11:30-1:30 p.m. He will return home to be laid to rest in the company of his parents at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fargo. Contributions in Phil's memory can be made to Living at Home of the Park Rapids Area, online or at P.O. Box 465, Park Rapids, MN 56470.