David George Smith

David G. Smith, 82, passed away quietly after a brief illness at Riderwood Village, a retirement community in Silver Spring, Maryland. David was in good health most of his life, and his sudden departure from this earth surprised and saddened many friends, colleagues and relatives.

David was born in Buffalo, NY, where he grew up and received his early education. He often told the people around him that he was a born naturalist. He attended Cornell University, where he became under the influence of a well-known ichthyologist, Edward C. Raney. He pursued his interests in fishes at the University of Miami, obtaining his Ph.D. degree. Following a research position at the Marine Biomedical Institute, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, he joined the staff of the Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA. His last position was at the Smithsonian Institution, where he worked as a Museum Specialist in the Fish Division, National Museum of Natural History. In addition to cataloging and researching specimens in the world's largest preserved fish collection, he participated in numerous scientific expeditions. David was a trained diver and collected fishes in some remote corners of the world, including the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Caribbean. The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists recently honored David by presenting the Gibbs Memorial Award for "an outstanding body of published work in systematic ichthyology." David was also a historian of his professional society, and in that capacity he wrote biographies of eminent American ichthyologists.

David's hobbies included photography, assisting his wife Inci with various gardening projects such as a plot of pollinator-friendly native plants at Riderwood, and travelling. His last major trip was in 2019, a river cruise in the Danube River in Europe.

David is survived by his wife of 25 years, Inci Bowman; his sister-in-law Diane Smith; his niece Amy Smith; his nephew Dan Smith and his wife Ursula, and their children Leo and Martina, all residents of Colorado. He was predeceased by his father George Smith (1916-1999) and mother Clara Burton Smith (1920-2003), and his brother Jack Smith (1947-2023).

There will be no funeral service, but a celebration of life event will be planned for a future date.

If you would like to share memories of David and perhaps a photo or two, please click on "Add a Memory" at this Web page devoted to David Smith.

Memorial contributions may be sent to:

National Wildlife Federation

ATTN: Philanthropy

11100 Wildlife Center Dr., Reston, VA 20190

Website: https://www.nwf.org

Donate online in honor of David:

https://support.nwf.org/page/58590/donate/1

or

Center for Inquiry / Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

PO Box 741, Amherst, NY 14226-0741

Website: https://centerforinquiry.org/

Donate online: https://centerforinquiry.org/support-cfi/