* Russ Smith; Director of Ventura Visitors Bureau

Russ Smith, executive director of the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau, died of a heart condition Monday. He was 63.

As head of the convention bureau, Smith spearheaded efforts to lure visitors to the seaside town for the past 10 years. Before he helped create the bureau in 1984, Smith was promotional director at the Buenaventura Mall.

His absence will be a real loss to the community and the tourist industry, Mayor Tom Buford said.

“He was valuable; he knew how to get things done,” Buford said. “He believed that this was truly a place where we could have tremendous success as a tourist spot.”

Smith was an enthusiastic promoter of Ventura, said Russ Lovell, a friend who knew him for 14 years.

“He was the salesperson to sell Ventura,” Lovell said. “He was selling a product he believed in.”

Bruce Hobbs, marketing director for the Doubletree Hotel, said Smith was especially good at helping city officials realize the importance of the tourist industry.

“He’s brought the city a long way,” Hobbs said.

When the City Council last year decided to reduce funding to the bureau by $42,200, Smith was there to fight for the money.

“If we cut the budget, we’re self-defeating. We don’t want to cut off the source of revenues,” said Smith, who at the time boasted that the city received $1.7 million in hotel bed taxes in 1992.

Smith was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and worked in various retail-related jobs in Arizona before moving to California in 1974.

In 1976, Smith moved from Woodland Hills to Ventura to become promotional director for the Buenaventura Mall, the largest shopping center in the area at the time. He stayed there until 1984, when the convention bureau was formed.

Smith suffered from a congenital heart condition known as Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome. His physician, Douglas Wilkinson, said the disease accelerated Smith’s heart rate several times a year. His death was unexpected, Wilkinson said.

Smith is survived by his wife, Karmen. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday at Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home.