B. Richal Smith - Life Member 2013, SEAW Seattle President 1983

Born December 16, 1932 in Hawaii, B. Richal Smith (1932-2021) graduated from Washington State University in 1958 with a BSCE as well as the Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degree. He served in the US Army.

Early in his career, Richal Smith worked as an employee of Peter Hostmark 1961-63 on the Washington Coliseum and other Seattle 1962 World’s Fair structures designed by architect Paul Thiry. He then partnered with Gary Swenson / Smith and Swenson, and in 1973 established Richal Smith & Co., responsible for the design of commercial buildings and industrial structures located throughout the US.

Richal joined SEAW in 1968, chairing several committees and serving on the Board including his 1983 term as President. He represented SEAW on the Seattle Building Code Advisory Board and on the General Design Committee of the International Conference of Building Officials. He also served on the Board of the Structural Engineers Foundation of Washington, beginning in 2016. His community activities included service on the Bellevue Building Code Board of Appeals. He held membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Concrete Institute.

His volunteerism with Engineering Ministries International earned him EMI’s President’s Volunteer Service award in 2010 in recognition of his service on missions to Senegal, to Guatemala in 2003 for a school construction project, to Peru for earthquake damage assessment, and in 2010 to Costa Rica.

Posted April 2012. Updated June 2013, July 2021

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