Gordon Smith, born February 28, 1932, died peacefully in his sleep at his Ventura home on September 30, 2023. He was 91 years old.
Gordon spent his childhood in the country town of Carshalton, England, living with his family in a gardener’s cottage as his father tended the grounds of a large English estate. He enjoyed swimming, running around the grounds with his friends, and later in school became an accomplished boxer. As a young child, he survived the London Blitz with his mother and sister, while his father left to support the WW2 effort operating as a truck driver. Later on, he joined the British Army and the Merchant Navy. After his service, he trained as a cook in France, and among his jobs, was on the cooking staff of the Queen Mary when it was an operational liner making transatlantic crossings. However, his passion was to become an American businessman and live in Los Angeles because LA contained the movie capital of the world (he was a big movie fan growing up in Surrey, England during the war), and he knew Southern California was the place to be for business in the 1950’s given its growth potential at that time.
So, in 1954 with his family’s encouragement, he immigrated to the United States. He worked many odd jobs for two years while in New York CIty to save up enough money to buy a car (a Dodge Lancer) so he could travel to Los Angeles to ardently pursue his dreams of working in the business world. Once he settled in Los Angeles in 1956, and having no experience in the finance world, he secured his first job with Pacific Finance as a repossessor, eventually working his way up in two years to become a loan officer.
In 1957, he met Celia Dominguez Montanez, who worked in the Pacific Finance secretarial pool. After a one-year courtship, they married in 1958. They lived in the San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley, and, in 1972, moved to Ventura, because Gordon always dreamed of living near the ocean. He would often say, “I would rather live year around where I’d want to vacation.” He continued to diligently worked his way up the proverbial ladder, commuting from Ventura to Sherman Oaks for close to 30 years, and rising to senior positions of Vice President at Union Bank and Senior Vice President at other banking institutions.
After business and the ocean, his third passion was tennis. He was very proud to become one of the founding members of Pierpont Racquet Club, when the clubhouse was just a trailer. He loved playing tennis and hanging with friends at the Club for over 30 years.
He is predeceased by his wife, Celia and his son, Craig Smith. He is survived by his daughter, Karen Hodskins, his granddaughter Rachel Hodskins, his son, Eric Kent Smith, and daughter-in-law, Martha Richter Smith.
Family and friends are invited to graveside funeral services to be held Friday, October 6th at 11:00a.m. at Ivy Lawn Cemetery, 5400 Valentine Rd, Ventura. Arrangements are under the direction of the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, Ventura.