David & Nita Smith Establish Endowment to Benefit Historical Society
David Smith was born in Heppner, Oregon. He and his family moved to Corvallis in 1934, and Dave graduated from Cor¬vallis High School in 1948. He earned a degree in business administration and industrial engineering from Oregon State in 1952. Nita Fitzsimmons was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Her family moved to Chicago when she was in high school, and then she went back to Iowa to attend college. When her family moved to Oregon, she transferred to Oregon State. She and Dave met at college and married in 1952. After living for a time in Medford, Oregon, and Oakland, California, Dave and Nita settled in Corvallis in 1954. They raised two children, Victoria and Mark. In 1965, Dave founded the David F. Smith Insurance Agency, which he built into one of the largest State Farm Insurance agencies in Oregon before retiring in 1990. Since that time, Dave has been a tireless servant of his community. In addition to numerous other community service activities, he joined the Benton County Foundation board of directors in 1979 as a representative of the Greater Corvallis Rotary Club and served as president in 1980-81. During his time on the board, Dave helped expand the grant application process to help board members make informed decisions about funding. Nita was active in Assistance League of Corvallis, the PEO Sisterhood, and Chi Omega alums. When her children were younger, she was a Camp Fire leader. She was an elder and a trustee and a member of the women’s association at the First Presbyterian Church. Dave also served on the board of trustees. The couple was active in the Jaycees and a ballroom dance club called Tillicum. Later, they were instrumental in founding another dance club called Carousel. They enjoyed “tailgating” at Oregon State football games for many years, parking their motor home and enjoying the company of friends on game days. After David retired in 1990, they did considerable traveling with other couples around the United States (including Alaska) and into Mexico in a motor home caravan. Dave and Nita established this fund to help support the historical society’s efforts to build and sustain a home for the Horner Collection (see page ##). The couple has many fond memories of visiting the collection before it was stored away for lack of a proper viewing facility. “I really miss it,” said Nita. “We have friends who have wonderful family [heirlooms] they’ve given to the museum, and I think they’re disappointed they’re not being shown.” Dave and Nita had the foundation listed as a beneficiary in their will for many years. However, after learning about the historical society’s efforts to provide viewing space for the Horner Collection, they decided to create an endowment to support the cause. “We decided rather than wait until we died, we’d stimulate this program now,” said Dave. Nita said, “We’ve been really grateful for living in Corvallis and for all the facilities that were offered to our family. This may be a little payback.”