COLUMBUS
Curtis Dean Smith, 86, of Columbus, died at 6:30p.m. September 8, 2018 at Our Hospice of South Central Indiana.
He was born in Zanesville on April 27, 1932, to the late Curtis and Esther Smith, and was preceded in death by his sister, Joan.
He is survived by his wife, Suzanne. Also surviving are his brother, Dale Smith of Wabash; his daughter, Brooke Fissinger (Jim) of Indianapolis, his sons, Greg Smith of Hermosa Beach, California and Doug Smith (Robyn) of Rockwall, Texas. His grandchildren include Connor, Ashley, Riley, Patrick, Ellie, Emerson, and Brooke.
Dean’s family moved to Fort Wayne where he graduated from South Side High School in 1950. He attended Butler and Indiana University and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
His education was interrupted when he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He trained in Air Weather Service at Chanute Air Base near Champaign-Urbana where he met his future wife at the University of Illinois.
They married in 1954 and spent the next four years in Beaconsfield and High Wycombe, England.
He served the Strategic Air Command at a NATO nerve center in an underground bunker where Special Weather Intelligence was in demand as his unit plotted U2 recognizance flights over Russia.
They were on high alert during the Joe McCarthy era, the Suez Canal blockade, and the Hungarian uprising.
Amidst all this, he played basketball on his squadron’s all-star team in Air Force tourneys in Bavaria.
Dean returned to I.U. Bloomington to complete a degree in government and began his public career in Indianapolis, specializing in residential land use planning and zoning.
In private practice at Lippman Associates he devised market research techniques and became known for his innovative work with planned unit development, cluster planning concepts, automatic homeowners’ associations, and historic preservation.
Early affiliations include Indiana Planning Association, American Society of Planning Officials, Urban Land Institute, American Institute of Certified Planners, Builders’ Association of Greater Indianapolis, and the Apartment Association of Indiana.
He accepted the position of Columbus City Planning Director in 1966. His work on outdated city plans and ordinances culminated in the Zoning Ordinance of 1971, which remained in effect for 30 years.
He was a visionary city planner, always looking to the future and aware of the consequences of bad planning or no planning. He chaired the Board of Zoning Appeals for nearly a decade.
His last professional years were with The Oxford Group in Indianapolis.
Throughout his life he found the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives.
He played tennis until he was 77, and coached varsity tennis at Jennings County High School.
He became a traveler, and appreciated the food and wine as well as the plazas, palaces, museums and architecture of western civilization.
Dean’s funeral will be held at First United Methodist Church, Tuesday, September 18 at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Howard Boles officiating. Family and friends may gather for visitation from 11 a.m. until service time. A private cremation inurnment is planned for Wednesday, September 19.
Memorials may be given to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana,
Columbus Indiana Philharmonic or First United Methodist Church of Columbus.
Condolences and words of encouragement can be sent to the family and a video tribute may be viewed at barkesweaverglick.com.
