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William (Bill) H. Smith passed away peacefully on June 4, 2017, at the La Posada-Mesilla Valley Hospice, in Las Cruces, NM. Bill was born on Feb. 16, 1933, in Bartlesville, OK., and graduated from Dowling High School in Des Moines in 1951. Following graduation, Bill entered the U.S. Army and served at Fort Benning. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant first class in 1955. On Feb. 22, 1955, he married his high school sweetheart Marlene Wilhelm.

Bill attended Iowa State University on the GI Bill and received a degree in scientific journalism. He began his successful career in communications, starting at the Fort Dodge Messenger as a photojournalist. Bill and Marlene eventually returned to Ames, where he pursued graduate studies and began work for the National Atomic Energy Laboratory as a public information officer and editor. In 1979, Bill accepted a position as a scientific editor at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), an agricultural research institute in Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines. After retiring from IRRI in 1991, Bill and Marlene settled in Las Cruses, NM. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Marlene; five children; eight grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.