Lone Pine Cemetery restorer concludes service as president

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | May 24, 20120

Fred Smith has decided to step down as president of Friends of Lone Pine Cemetery, a position he has held since the organization was formed in 2007. He announced the decision at the spring meeting at the C&D Bar & Grill in Tekoa May 11.

Lone Pine is located between Oakesdale and Tekoa.

Smith nominated Terry Smiley of Sedro Wooley for his replacement as president. He was accepted and was approved by the board. Smith’s wife Patti agreed to be co-president.

Smith, of Vancouver, Wash., provided leadership in forming the organization as well as helping with the physical work at the cemetery, along with planning for future projects to make the historic pioneer cemetery accessible and presentable again after many years of neglect.

Smith cited his age as a reason to step down, having turned 90 in March. Jo Ann Savitz will remain as vice president and Jim Irwin will stay Secretary-Treasurer.

Smith was raised in the northwest and the Whitman County area before joining the U.S. Army at the age of 19 and becoming a decorated fighter pilot during World War II. He flew 173 missions.

Smith and Terry Smiley are both descendants of the Smiley family of pioneers buried at the Lone Pine Cemetery. Other descendants and members present at the May 11 meeting were Fred’s son-in-law, Tom Pohle, Fred’s nephew, Rod Smith, Terry’s wife, Patti Smiley and Jim and Shirley Irwin.

Lone Pine Cemetery began in 1896 when, for unknown reasons, Chicago businessman Marshall Field was in area for the sake of real estate transactions. He bought two acres of ground on a hilltop to be used for a cemetery. At the time, burials were already being done there. Later, a civil engineer named J.W. Stack laid out a formal plot for burials.

Field was the founder of Marshall Field’s department stores.