Russ Smith remembered by friends

August 19, 2002

By Jim Lowe

TIMES ARGUS ARTS EDITOR

MONTPELIER – Russell’s Smith’s wife summed up the crowd’s feeling when she said that a friend told her, “Russell is public property.”

“How true that is,” Barbara Smith told the several hundred people who packed the Montpelier Recreation Field’s grandstand Sunday evening to celebrate the man many people called central Vermont’s Charlie Brown.

Russell Smith of Montpelier, who died Aug. 11 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57, was known particularly for his indefatigable nature. At Sunday’s twilight memorial service Smith was honored as a leader in community theater and children’s sports, particularly for the optimism and joy he brought to his extensive community involvement.

“Russell was a beautiful man who wanted everyone to be successful – especially children,” said family friend Virginia Fry,

Smith was very active in central Vermont’s two community theater companies, the Barre Players and the Montpelier Theater Guild, and was pivotal in the reopening of the Barre Opera House and the refurbishing of the Union Elementary School auditorium in Montpelier. More important, friends said, he was insistent on getting local community organizations to work together.

“I don’t need to tell you Russell left enormous shoes to fill,” said David Schütz, Smith’s colleague in community theater and a family friend.

Sunday’s 90-minute memorial opened with community theater’s stalwart pianist, John Lincoln, performing show tunes on an electronic piano and closed with another Smith favorite, fireworks. In between, friends and family spoke briefly, characterizing Smith’s life and contribution to his community. Dan Bruce, who has conducted numerous community theater musicals, led the “Just Do It” community choir, an amalgam of local singers, in bluesy “Songs in the Key of Life.” (Barbara Smith called the group the “pull it together at the last minute” chorus.)

Born in Michigan, Smith came to Vermont in the ‘70s. He was a co-founder of the weekly newspaper, The World, but soon left it, and ended up as director of public information and education for the Vermont Agency of Human Services.

But, it was in theater that Smith was most visible. In 1978, he made his stage debut in Montpelier Theater Guild’s “Arsenic in Old Lace,” He met his wife in the 1982 Barre Players’ production of “Sweet Charity,” and they were joined by daughters Katie and Megan in Montpelier Theater Guild’s 1989 “Snoopy.” And, in 1993, he co-wrote the Montpelier Theater Guild’s original musical, “LiNES,” and made his directing debut with the Barre Players “Oklahoma!”

Mark Billian, another family friend, noted Smith’s current projects left unfinished and enlisted the audience’s support, sometimes seriously, sometimes humorously, in his talk, “Unfinished Business.” On a more serious note, he told of Smith’s desire to send one last e-mail to his circle of friends, one that remained unfulfilled due to his deteriorating condition.

Smith told Billian, he said, he wanted to tell people, “If you want to help me, help one another.”

Much of the evening was devoted to humor. Barbara Smith noted, “I was always amazed at how many women flocked to Russell,” and then proceeded to list quite a few, all well-known in community theater.

“He was their big brother,” she added with a laugh.

Daughter Megan told of how Smith got everyone to play “dinosaur basketball,” demonstrating how only the hands would protrude from her T-shirt. Daughter Katie spoke of the difficulty of the process renting movies with Smith.

“He was always meeting people,” she said. “And you know how long his conversations were.”

Smith actually died while watching the movie, “Lord of the Rings,” at home with his family.

“He wanted to be cremated, so we put his ashes in a cookie jar,” Barbara Smith said, referring to his predilection for midnight cookies. She added, “A friend attached a Charlie Brown kite to his grave.”

Contact Jim Lowe at jim.lowe@timesargus.com or 479-0191, ext. 1154.