[Fwd: Smokey Bear's Vet's Obituary]

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July 09, 2003

Denver, Colorado

life stories

 

 

Vet cared for Smokey Bear

 

 

Colo. native loved telling stories about saving the cub

 

By Claire Martin, Denver Post Staff Writer

 

Edwin Smith, the veterinarian who saved the badly burned bear cub

immortalized as Smokey Bear, died June 27 of respiratory failure after a

long illness at his home in Pueblo. He was 87.

 

Smith was born in Minturn and grew up on a ranch near Fort Garland. He

seemed to have a natural knack for working with animals and diagnosing

sick or injured livestock and pets. After a year at Adams State College,

he transferred to Colorado State University to train as a veterinarian.

 

On May 9, 1950, a firefighter battling the 17,000-acre Capitan wildfire

in southern New Mexico found an injured 6-week-old black bear cub

clinging to a charred tree. He put the tiny bear in a shoe box, named

him Hot Foot Teddy, and took the cub to New Mexico game warden Ray Bell.

 

Bell, who had a pilot's license, flew to Santa Fe, where Smith ran a

veterinary clinic that provided free help for the U.S. Forest Service.

 

" He was pretty badly burned on his stomach, paws and hind legs when they

brought him to me, " Smith told The Pueblo Chieftain in 1997. " The

infection would have killed him, but I treated him real good. "

 

Smith applied medicine on the burns, and wrapped them in bandages that

Bell and his family, who took the bear home, changed daily until the

wounds healed.

 

The little cub became an instant celebrity. The Forest Service, which

was searching for a fire-prevention mascot, seized the chance to

capitalize on the cub's popularity and its circumstances. The cub became

Smokey Bear, starting a legacy that endures. The original Smokey died in

1976.

 

Smith loved telling stories about saving Smokey. He praised the cub as a

good patient who endured the painful burn treatment without biting him.

 

Twelve years after Smokey left his care, Smith went to the National Zoo

in Washington, where Smokey was living, to see his former invalid.

 

When Smith went up to Smokey's cage, he began talking playfully to the

bear, at that time a healthy 400 pounds. Smokey lifted his head at the

sound of Smith's voice.

 

The bear got up and ambled over to the fence separating animal and

visitor. Smith had his hands against the fence, and Smokey " put his paws

right up by my hands, " Smith recounted in the 1997 Chieftain interview.

Smith liked to think that Smokey somehow remembered him, said his wife,

Twilla Eddy Smith.

 

" Smokey was his favorite patient, he really was, " she said.

 

" Ed loved that little bear, " she said. " He had no idea, when he took

care of him, that Smokey would end up being such a symbol. "

 

Over the next four decades, Smith saw other wild animals, along with a

few celebrities. He was among the veterinarians who treated the

laboratory monkeys at Los Alamos and helped develop Purina's Monkey Chow.

 

Smith also worked with the producers of the TV show " Route 66 " in faking

a deer-car accident by temporarily sedating a mule deer. He met actor

John Wayne when " The Cowboys " was filmed in New Mexico, appearing in the

film as one of the pioneers driving a covered wagon.

 

Among Smith's favorite patients were the silver chows that belonged to

artist Georgia O'Keeffe. They willingly jumped on the exam tables when

O'Keeffe brought them to the clinic, and Smith often made house calls to

her Ghost Ranch. As he was putting away his tools after one visit,

O'Keeffe invited him to choose one of her paintings as a token of her

thanks.

 

Smith demurred. He told her that he would take up her offer another

time, but never got around to it.

 

" He kind of kicked himself for not taking her up on that offer, " said

his granddaughter, Kathy Dobesh, who now runs the Smith Veterinary

Clinic with her husband.

 

Veterinarians seem to run in the extended Smith family. Edwin Smith's

two brothers were veterinarians, as are his oldest son, two

granddaughters and a nephew.

 

In 1994, following his semi-retirement, Smith and his second wife,

Twilla - they married in 1982 after both were widowed - moved to Pueblo.

He became an active volunteer at Pueblo's First Presbyterian Church,

Meals On Wheels and the Cooperative Care Center, which distributes food

and clothing to the needy.

 

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Richard and Gordon Smith; a

brother, Earl; 23 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren.

 

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