Wallace G. Smith
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Wallace George Smith was born in San Francisco on March 5, 1936, and passed away on Palm Sunday, March 28, 2021. He was George Reginald Smith and Genevieve Cuneo Smith's only child. Wally was raised in the Catholic church and graduated from Marin Catholic High (Academy High), class of 1953, where he was a star (ambidextrous) athlete in basketball and football. He went on to graduate from Santa Clara University in 1957, with a B.S. - Commerce. It was in college that he met his beloved Bonnie. Wally married Bonita Soe in 1960 at the Mission in Carmel. They moved to Los Angeles in 1960. In 1972, Wally founded Colony Hotels Inc., a boutique resort management company based in Hawaii. It quickly grew to encompass a dozen luxury properties to become the largest resort management company in Hawaii and among the largest in America. Over the course of his career, Wally was involved in the development, ownership and management of hotels across North America. Wally pioneered and popularized the vacation rental concept for the travel and tourism industry. Throughout his career, and particularly in 70's and 80's, he empowered women by making them Vice Presidents and Managers. Those employees were his closest friends throughout his life. Each would underline that Wally's art of the deal was what he loved most. He mastered in closing a sale usually by wrapping it in an entertaining story.
Wally had 3 great passions. Reading was number one. He read 4 newspapers every morning and several books a month. To say he was a voracious reader would be an understatement. His second passion was sports (in particular the Dodgers). He loved traveling, body surfing, tennis, and golf. His love for golf would lead him to be a co-founder of FORE magazine.
But his biggest love was his family: daughter, Crista Smith de Bruyn, married to Philip de Bruyn; son, Matthew Smith; daughter, Jonna Smith-Gall married to Peter Gall, and his two grandchildren Tony and Taryn de Bruyn. He passed on to them the importance of faith and friendships. The ability to be self-deprecating and loyal.
Wally was a true patriarch, a risk taker, and a prankster. His heart gave out on him surely because it gave so much for so long.
He is survived by his immediate family and many Cuneos in the San Francisco Bay area. In memory of Wallace G. Smith, contributions may be made to The American Heart Association https://www.heart.org/ or MD Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486 or www.mdanderson.org/gifts. Please designate gifts to Gynecologic Oncology Research under Dr. Shannon N Westin.