Gerald Smith

Gerald L. “Jerry” Smith, intellectual property attorney, passionate chef, scout leader, and raconteur died peacefully on January 3, 2017. He is survived by children Alene Schattschneider, Kevin Smith, and Johanna Smith, grandchildren Caroline, Nicholas, and Katya, and leaves a proud legacy at Okuley-Smith attorneys. A raconteur and true eccentric who lived in Columbus, Ohio for most of his life, he expressed his creativity well beyond the confines of his successful intellectual property/patent law career. He was instrumental in the unique design of the Mueller-Smith building by the Olentangy River, which he based on the shape of the one remaining wall of a beautiful historic old mill. Inspired by COSI, he installed a Foucault pendulum in the front foyer, and planned the entire layout of the building around his incredible office parties. These parties were the embodiment of his larger-than-life personality, and were simultaneously revered by friends and dreaded by his family. While he spoiled his friends and associates with a ridiculously lavish menu (entirely of his planning) that spread throughout the premises like nothing the ancient Romans could ever dream up, his children and colleagues would serve food while barely standing after weeks of torture making his vision become reality. His children learned to stir fry (in an authentic cast iron wok) before they could verbalize the phrase “Can’t we just have spaghetti?” When they did have spaghetti, it was often after they hand cranked fresh dough through an authentic pasta maker. He horrified his children during their teen years (during which he raised them as a single father) with his over-the-top sense of grandeur, including and especially his impeccably awful taste in cars. His sartorial bent was also unique, and he sported rainbow suspenders far longer than even Robin Williams could get away with. Even in his free time, he always went big. When he became interested in something, he went all out. He was a woodworker who put a sawmill (yes, and actual sawmill) in his garage so he could split boards from the old growth trees that fell behind his house. He took up fly fishing which meant he bought every possible type of rod and became an expert lure maker. When his youngest went off to college, she jokingly mentioned that he should send her cookies. He proceeded to bake outlandishly rich gourmet creations and send them to her monthly, which made her rather popular in the dorms that year. He was often in charge of the food on the Boy Scout backpacking trips he coordinated as a scout leader, and somehow managed to convince everyone to carry the equipment he needed to create cordon bleu fare in the wilderness. While given to largesse for his own interests, he could be quite the miser. His son can tell you about the expressions on the faces of the employees of a 1980s ski repair shop when Dad brought in his 1950s downhill skis in for refurbishing. They had never seen bindings like his except in history books. He insisted that they worked just fine. His understanding of the economic needs of young people also ended in about 1957, leading all 3 of his children to develop a strong work ethic for which we are now grateful. He leaves a legacy of strange exclamations, a love of dogs, the ability to do character voices while reading stories, a completely inappropriate sense of humor, a passion for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and a sense of honor and duty to always be there for his kids. While there were numerous attempts to make him give up on this idea, none of them succeeded and all 3 children became fairly presentable adults. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please donate to the Simon Kenton Council, Boy Scouts of America (http://skcscouts.org/donate/). A celebration of life Saturday January 7 at 5 pm, Rutherford funeral home, 515 High Street, Worthington. The family will receive friends from 3pm until the start of the service.

Gerald Smith

February 11, 1934 - January 3, 2017