Posted on: Saturday, October 30, 2004

Jerry Smith, worked on Big Island youth affairs

Advertiser staff

HILO, Hawai'i — Jerry W. Smith, a youth leader on the Big Island for two decades and former executive director of the YMCA in Hilo, died Oct. 10 of pancreatic cancer in Orange, Calif. He was 77.

Smith was a native of Los Angeles and served in the U.S. Marines in 1946-47. He moved to Hilo in the late 1950s to head the Waiakea Settlement of the YMCA. He returned to California in 1979 and headed the Orange Senior Center until retiring in 1992.

Smith was involved in state and county panels on youth affairs during his time in Hawai'i and served as a disaster volunteer after Hilo's devastating 1960 tsunami. He also was a Rotary member and a participant in the Big Island Press Club.

Smith lived in Yorba Linda, Calif., after retiring and remained active in Rotary. He was an avid U.S. history buff and frequently led expeditions into the California desert and historic mining areas.

He is survived by four children, Janet Linney and Walter, Peter and Lawrence, and six grandchildren.

A service will be held Nov. 6 at Shannon-Bryan Mortuary in Orange. Memorial donations may be made to the Orange Senior Center Endowment Fund, 170 S. Olive St., Orange, CA 92866.