James Neal Smith; Former Simi Valley Mayor

Former Simi Valley Mayor James Neal Smith died Sunday in a Simi Valley Hospital. He was 69.

Smith was born Dec. 13, 1930, in Los Angeles and attended North Hollywood High School, the University of Hawaii and UCLA.

During the Korean War, he worked in Army Intelligence at Fort Shafter, Honolulu.

Smith then worked for Rocketdyne for 30 years. He was the manager of contracts and proposals when he retired in 1985.

He served on the Simi Valley City Council beginning in 1971, when he replaced Jim Dougherty, who had become a Ventura County supervisor. He was elected to a two-year City Council term in April 1972 and reelected to a four-year term in March 1974. From 1974 to 1976, he was chosen by the City Council to serve as mayor.

“Jim was one of our community’s visionaries,” said Simi Valley City Manager Mike Sedell, who worked with Smith from 1972 through 1978. “He and his colleagues on the City Council worked long, tireless volunteer hours laying the groundwork for the city we have become today. He saw the need to maintain a safe community with an ever-improving quality of life, evidenced by its parkways, streets and roads, and economic vitality. Jim believed strongly in that vision and pushed hard to make it a reality.”

Smith was also chairman of the Simi Valley Sanitation District and the first chairman of the Commercial Development Commission. He also served on the Simi Valley Unified School District board, the Ventura Regional Criminal Justice Planning Board, the Civic Center Joint Powers Authority and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District Board.

He volunteered at the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Pisces Swim Club, and he was a major fund-raiser for the YMCA. He was also an active member of the Simi Valley Elks Lodge.

Smith was one of the founding members of First Western Bank and served on its board of directors from the beginning.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Kathryn of Simi Valley; four daughters, Kimberli Ballew of Oxnard, Robin Peters of Simi Valley, Elizabeth Sandifer of Sonoma and Jacqueline Geiger of Simi Valley; three sisters, Barbara Henderson of Keizer, Ore., Claire Hals of Graham, Wash., and Carol Lilly of Ojai; one brother, Mike Lilly of Westlake Village; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Friday at United Methodist Church in Simi Valley.

Arrangements are under the direction of Reardon Simi Valley Mortuary.