Relfections on Coronado with Adm. Lou Smith

A Life of Service to Country & Community with Admiral Lou Smith

“One of the things I love about Coronado is that everyone has a story. A good one. Every day I look in awe at all the accomplished people that live around me,” reflected Lou Smith. That’s Rear Admiral Louis M. Smith, USN (Retired), to be accurate.

Smith’s story is a good one, too. Before we get into his professional story, and his Coronado story, let’s go way back.

Smith and his two older sisters were born and grew up on Milwaukee’s South Side. “In those days it was where all the Germans, Poles, Latvians, Estonians, and Lithuanians lived. Everyone in my neighborhood had an accent,” he recalled. He is half Greek, half German. All four of his grandparents were immigrants. “Both of my grandfathers came here to avoid serving on what would turn out to be the losing side of World War I - one in Germany and the other in Greece for the Ottoman Empire.” Prescience and visionary perspective seem to be inherited traits in the Smith family.

Smith was a bright, but scrappy kid in a working class neighborhood, in a different time in America. He excelled in school but his high energy didn’t always please his teachers. “I once got an A/F on my report card [A in academics, F in citizenship]. But that short attention span that got me in so much trouble in high school has served me so well ever since,” he chuckled.

He and his sisters were the first in their family to go to college. “I would never have been able to go to college without the NROTC scholarship I received,” said Smith. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Marquette University and later a Masters degree from Purdue University School of Engineering.

After college Smith’s first duty station was in Hawaii. He was busy at his first post but returned to Milwaukee for a very special occasion. His mom was graduating from college with a teaching credential and he wanted to be there. At the ceremony he met a classmate of hers. “Mom introduced me to her very nice blonde classmate, Susan, and I thought…. she’s really cute. I had four days to kill before flying back so I asked her out.”

Long story short, Susan and Smith were married a year later and she joined him in Hawaii. They recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, but Smith joked that he is “still waiting for her dowry.”

Susan Smith, soft-spoken with a friendly, easy-going nature, turned out to be a perfect partner for life in the Navy. “I would go across America in a Conestoga wagon with her any day. And hand her the rifle!” he stated emphatically.

A bit of an aside…. Those many of us privileged enough to sit on committees or boards with Smith know that he could fill an entire article with one-liners, random but relevant facts, and sports metaphors.

Fast forward to the year 2000. After 32 years in the Navy, Smith retired as a two-star Admiral and moved to Coronado.

Not only did his career span more than three decades, it also crossed the length and breadth of America. Midwesterners Lou and Susan Smith packed up and moved 17 times - from Hawaii to Maine, D.C. to Omaha, and even a tour in Iceland. Along the way they raised their sons Brian and Michael.

“The boys went to eight different schools in eight different districts. They were good at making new friends!” Smith laughed.

Like many military families, their experiences in a variety of places helped them form a pretty good picture of what they were looking for in their permanent home. “We had three main criteria: a community feel, walkability, and for Susan, a place where people liked to garden,” said Smith. Coronado checked the boxes, and the fact that their two grown sons had since moved to Southern California sealed the deal.

The first thing he did was fail at retirement. Which is not surprising considering his gregarious personality, wealth of experience and wisdom, and curious mind. “I’ve basically flunked retirement four times since I got out of the Navy,” he said.

His combination of engineering degrees and years of military experience made for a highly marketable retiree. During his three tours in Vietnam with the Seabees, he was responsible for constructing combat facilities for the Marines. His final stop in his Navy career was command of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command with 18,000 employees world-wide and annual revenues over $9 billion. He participated in land and lease issues and base realignment and closures. He testified before Congress. “It was stressful, but a wonderful experience and a great privilege,” he remembered. The Admiral was ready for the private sector.

Story - Maria Simon

Smith visited SEABEEs in Bosnia with command Master Chief Kelly, Christmas, 2000.

The decision to come to Coronado proved to be a really good break… for Coronado - and San Diego.

The energetic Admiral arrived with his sleeves rolled up and ready to contribute to his new community.

Smith spoke to A.G.C. in 2003 as the San Diego USD Prop MM Administrator.

Smith’s first ‘second career’ began in 2000 when he worked for San Diego Unified School District. He led their execution of a $1.5 billion school bond [Prop. MM] where he was responsible for modernizing and building dozens of school sites. When he was hired, the program was two years behind schedule. Smith righted the ship and ultimately finished under budget and ahead of schedule. He was promoted to head of all Administrative Operations for SDUSD.

From there he joined Sharp Healthcare in 2005 as their Vice President of Facilities. “I’ve always been a systems guy, whether it’s construction or governance. I like to know how things work,” Smith said. At Sharp, the largest healthcare system in the San Diego region, he was involved in the construction of two new $150 million nursing towers and numerous smaller projects. When he retired (again), he was asked to serve on the Sharp Healthcare Board of Directors.

In 2009, the City of Coronado appointed Smith as their representative on the Board of Port Commissioners. The Port Board is made up of representatives from the five port cities and oversees the operation of the Unified Port of San Diego. Again rising to the top, Smith was elected the Chairman of the Board in 2012. One of his most notable accomplishments at the Port related to Coronado was the construction of the Boathouse and Clubroom at Glorietta Bay Park. “Someone had removed it from the Master Plan. As soon as I realized it, I got that building back on track...by being a bit obnoxious. Well, just persuasive,” he laughed.

Another Port memory for Smith involves the Big Bay Boom Fireworks Fiasco of 2012. “I was the Chairman of the Board. Susan and I had walked down to see the show. When 30 minutes of fireworks blew up in 27 seconds she looked at me and said ‘Was that supposed to happen?’ I took my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it off and we walked home.” Smith was philosophical, “You can work your whole life and never be part of something that goes viral so I regard that as a real achievement.”

This all would be a good ‘post retirement’ story, but not so fast... In 2014 Smith was elected to serve on the Coronado Unified School District Governing Board. “I like to think my mom, the teacher and [teachers] union president, is somewhere smiling about that.” Smith brought both his fiduciary and facilities management expertise to his role as a CUSD Trustee. He also brought a big picture perspective on issues facing public education. “To me the biggest problem in education today is not the kids, or the teachers or curriculum. It’s the fact that we have the most diverse-aged set of parents in history. Literally a 40 year age range within a district- a first grader could have a parent that is 20, 30, 40 or 50 and they are in school for another decade. They each come with a very different context, different perspective. We have never had a range like that before in our history,” Smith pointed out. During his farewell speech at his final CUSD Board meeting in 2018 Lou said to his colleagues, “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished. I could not have asked to be on a better team. We’ve gotten along together, we’ve fought together. Just like a family. In the end we all pulled together

and we made it work for our students,” he said. With a commitment to being accessible, another claim to fame of Trustee Smith was that he attended all the middle school dances and sixth grade camp.

Smith has cast a wide net in the world. At each stop along the way his collegiality naturally drew people to him. He collected colleagues, friends, and connections. During his time at SDUSD and tenure at the Port, he worked with [now Congressman] Scott Peters. He now serves on Peters’ academy review committee to screen San Diego high school seniors for placement at the nation’s military academies.

Among his paid, appointed, and elected positions in the San Diego region, Smith continued to serve his own community of Coronado.

One of the first civic committees he joined was the Tunnel Commission, which he said eventually turned into a “tunnel too far” with too many obstacles. He is also an active member of Coronado Rotary and Sacred Heart Parish where, among other roles, he served on the building committee for their recent construction project.

“When I came to Coronado, what I liked was that everyone participated. Small towns work best when they have participatory democracy,” said Smith. He noted that in many communities it is difficult to get people to step up and take leadership positions. “There is a price you pay being in the public eye, but it is essential,” he said. He should know. Smith is an advocate for collaboration and is the quintessential ‘reach across the aisle’ kind of guy. “We have had very different city councils who have stepped up, and although different, they have all done a good job. One of my few concerns long term is that we have always had people willing to step up to the plate and run for local office. Now we are seeing outside money coming into Coronado. I don’t like that. I think we are losing something with that,” Smith observed. He recognizes the importance of high functioning boards and communities. “If you look at what’s happening today - we really need to listen to each other. We need to teach our kids how to disagree. It’s getting a little worse, more polarized. It’s a big mistake if you can’t dialogue. At the end of the day go out and have a beer together! As long as people are trying to do what’s right, even if I disagree with them, we can work together.” Despite changes, Smith remains passionate about Coronado and optimistic about its future. “This is a wonderful community and yet I can say that the community I moved to 21 years ago was different. Communities evolve. To me, we have to keep looking at our uniqueness. It’s a lot of small things, like the summer bus service. I worry a little bit about the graying of Coronado. It’s so important to have young families with little kids playing in our parks. A blended community is important,” he reflected. “The trick is to stay at the top of the mountain. It’s one thing to win a championship. It’s another to repeat,” he said of Coronado’s his-

tory of good governance and civic achievements.

And for Smith personally…don’t rule anything out. “Susan and I are very busy. She is a hospice volunteer and has the best garden she’s ever had!” he said. And they are very connected and active in the lives of their four of their grandkids. “The two older ones are in college and two are here [San Diego] in school.”

Never one to miss an opportunity to take on a challenge, Lou and Susan took on a new project during COVID. “We are learning how to speak Spanish. I’m already over 135 days in a row in our language program,” he reported. “You have to keep doing new stuff. I bought an electric car and am busy learning its systems.”

The Smiths can also be seen on their daily walks together around the neighborhood. “I loved when I was on the school board and neighbors on their porches would stop me as I walked by and tell me to vote on something or another,” he laughed. That is small town democracy.

In a town full of high ranking military officers, professional and olympic athletes, accomplished artists, and high achievers of all ages, Smith can count himself on par with his neighbors. And the rest of us can count ourselves blessed that he chose to “retire” here.

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