Richard C.H. Smith

Richard C.H. (Dick Riley) Smith Sept. 23, 1926 - February 13, 2007 Born in Los Angeles, CA, to Howard and Dorothy Smith, Richard grew up in Tulare, helping out at the family store/gas station/ "auto court" (motel). He left for Pomona College in 1943 and got drafted in 1945. As he always said, they ran out of war just in time and he returned to graduate from UCLA. After receiving his English degree, he got a job at a radio station in Modesto! Before the year was out, he (cornet/trumpet player) and a Pomona classmate (clarinet) took off across country to visit New Orleans, mecca for those who played Dixieland jazz. One night, while listening to a favorite band in a bar on Bourbon St., he got a phone call from a colleague in New York, saying they had a chance to play on a TV show. That gig turned into five years in NYC - playing with Conrad Janis and his Tailgate Band, working for CBS, winning the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts with their band, getting married, having a daughter, and getting a phone call from Turk Murphy, who needed a trumpet player for his San Francisco band. As Richard never learned to read music, life with Turk was brief. He then played with Kid Ory and finally hung up his horn in 1960 to work in radio. This was followed by a career in TV news as a writer-producer, first at KRON, where he initiated the first hour-long newscast in the Bay Area, and then at KGO, where he wrote and produced for news anchor Van Amburg. He retired in 1989 to focus on his love for cooking and traveling. He will be remembered as an amazing cook, writer and musician. He leaves Judy, his wife of almost 25 years; daughter, Hilary, son-in-law, Peter, and much beloved grandchildren, Bronwyn and Reilly. Per his wishes, no services are planned. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Petaluma.