Christopher “Kit” Smith, a respected financial journalist for 24 years at the Honolulu Advertiser who ran marathons into his 80s, died Dec. 27 in Tucson, Ariz. He was 90.
Smith was born July 22, 1934, in Honolulu. He attended Punahou School and continued his education at Princeton University before serving two years in the Navy. He went on to earn a graduate degree in communications and journalism at Stanford University.
After several years covering business and finance in California, he joined the staff of the former Honolulu Advertiser newspaper. Smith’s ability as a writer, his skill as a researcher and his professionalism within the newsroom and on the street earned him the respect of colleagues and members of the business community alike.
“Kit was one of the great business writers Hawaii has ever had,” Walter Dods Jr., longtime CEO of First Hawaiian Bank who retired in 2004, said in a news release. “I had such great respect for him, as did other CEOs around town. He was as sharp as they come, a master of detail.”
Tom Kaser, an Advertiser reporter for 34 years and longtime friend, described Smith as an “institution.”
“I don’t believe anyone has written as much about Hawaii business, or interviewed as many Hawaii business leaders, as Kit did … ,” Kaser said via email.
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Another former Advertiser reporter, Suzanne Roig, worked with Smith early in her newspaper career, calling him “a kind and generous co-worker.”
“He shared his sources and his knowledge of the business community willingly with me,” Roig said via email. “I learned how to turn routine unemployment figure stories into something that reflected the people we covered. I also learned so much from him about balanced and thorough reporting.”
Bart Asato worked with Smith as a page designer for the Advertiser’s business section, but met him when he joined the newspaper as an intern.
“He took the time to mentor the interns and explain the complexities of business and finance. He was a top-notch reporter and editor with a great heart. He truly cared about the community he covered,” Asato said.
Greg Wiles, who worked alongside Smith in the Advertiser’s business section during the 1990s, recalled his former colleague’s sense of humor.
“Besides being a loving husband and incredibly humble guy, Kit was very talented as a business journalist … ,” Wiles said. “In front of (his desk) was a huge painting of a skid-row street scene at night with drunks stumbling around on the street along with other characters. It was an incredible painting. One day these guys show up and say they’re moving the painting somewhere (for publisher Thurston Twigg-Smith). As they hauled it away Kit quipped, ‘There goes the neighborhood.’ It was incredibly understated humor but was extremely funny.”
Outside the newsroom Smith was a man of many interests.
He was a dedicated runner whose list of marathon runs included events in Boston (nine times), Chicago, Honolulu, New York City, Philadelphia and San Diego. An avid musician, he played trombone with the Honolulu Wind Ensemble well into his 70s, held lay positions at Central Union Church, participated in Bible studies for the homeless, and read to keiki at Kalihi Elementary School.
Smith fell at home last March and broke his hip. In July, following surgery and follow-up physical therapy, he and his wife, Margie Smith, moved to Tucson to be near their younger daughter, Sandra Bramhill, and her family. They celebrated his 90th birthday there in July. The couple’s older daughter, Suzanne Smith, joined them in early October, “and shortly after it became clear that Kit needed to be in home hospice,” Margie Smith said.
“Even in home hospice he never lost his good cheer and loving nature,” she said. “He died without fear or pain and was never on a single pharmaceutical. Even toward the end when I would say, ‘Praise God! ’ he would always respond with ‘from whom all blessings flow.’
Smith is additionally survived by two grandsons, Ian and Mark Bramhill. He was predeceased by his middle daughter, Patty, who succumbed to non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1981. He memorialized her by compiling some of her journal entries, letters, poems and drawings into a book, “Mango Days: A Teenager Facing Eternity Reflects on the Beauty of Life,” and by organizing an annual 5K memorial community run.
Memorial observances are pending.
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