Our long-time friend and Council board member, Mr. Guy Francis Smith passed away at his residence in Alexandria, Virginia on Tuesday December 30, 2008. Guy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 4, 1936, to Peter and Hattie Smith and is survived by his sister, Theresa Carstens also of Milwaukee, her husband Carl, five nephews, one niece, their families, and of course countless friends.

Guy began a long love affair with the people and politics of Puerto Rico and joining the drive to bring equal citizenship and equal rights to the almost 4 million U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico in 1969. He was, as his political mentors, an ardent proponent of Statehood for Puerto Rico throughout his career beginning with his service as a special assistant to Jorge L. Cordova Diaz, Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 1972. He became the Washington D.C. representative for the City of San Juan during the pro-Statehood mayoralty of Carlos Romero-Barcelo in 1972 and with whom he developed a life-long friendship. It was an appointment that engendered some controversy on the island it being the first time that a Puerto Rican municipality had had representation in the nation's capital independent of the Governor's office in Washington; the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. When Romero became Governor in 1976 Guy worked at the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration and returned to Capitol Hill in 1977 to work as a senior aide to Baltasar Corrada del Rio, Puerto Rico's new Resident Commissioner to the United States until 1984.

In each of these capacities, Guy was instrumental in securing federal funds for the 78 cities of Puerto Rico and the commonwealth government. He worked on countless pieces of legislation benefiting the people of Puerto Rico, ranging from the island's inclusion in the food stamp program, known in Puerto Rico as Plan P.A.N. - Plan Asistencia Nutricional - to community development and housing programs. He was instrumental in securing funding for the VIII Pan American games hosted in Puerto Rico in 1979. Once admonished by Puerto Rican opponents of Statehood that as a non Puerto Rican he was not entitled to an opinion or position on Puerto Rico's territorial status, he reportedly responded "I didn't give up my civil rights when I started to work for Puerto Rico".

In 1976, Guy was involved in the effort to temper the anti-integration legislation known as the "Compact of Permanent Union" sought by the administration of then Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. An original draft of the legislation would have granted Puerto Rico almost complete autonomy, including powers beyond those enjoyed by the states, such as the ability into international trade agreements and join international organizations. Numerous changes and alterations moderated the legislation. Ultimately, the 94th Congress adjourned without acting on it.

Following his service as a senior aide to Corrada del Rio, in 1984 he took a leave-of-absence from the Hill to coordinate a federally-funded project documenting federal assistance to the island. He was an active board member of the U.S. Council for Puerto Rico Statehood since its founding in 1998.

One of three children, Guy attended St. Sebastian's grade school in Milwaukee and graduated in 1954 from Marquette University High School, earning his B.A. in Journalism four years later at Marquette University. There he was a contributing author and editor for the Marquette Journal and reporter for the university's newspaper. In the Journal he published the award-winning essay "The Secret Life of Jimmy Thurber" and short stories such as "Mother Machree," the tale of a "cantankerous and stubborn" old woman who daily tended her daughter's grave, while berating and alienating the cemetery workers.

In his earlier days as a young sports reporter he covered the now defunct and infamous Marquette football team, which purportedly failed to win a game during his tenure. On a winning note, Guy served for a time as the manager for Marquette's basketball team and was named Marquette University "Man of the Year" in 1958.

A veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, he received an Honorable Discharge in 1959. He then briefly wrote for the Appleton Post-Gazette before traveling to the northwest where in the early 60's he worked in the Public Relations office of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington which was followed by graduate work in the School of Communications at the University of Washington in Seattle. It was during these years that he first met the future Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Foley with whom he maintained a life-long friendship. In the fall of 1964 he would return to Spokane briefly to serve as a campaign aide to Foley during his first and successful run for Congress from the 5th District of Washington.

In 1963, Guy moved to Washington, D.C. where he would spend the rest of his life. From 1963-1964, he was legislative assistant to Congressman Clement J. Zablocki of Wisconsin, who chaired the House International Relations Committee.

From 1965 to 1969, Guy worked as a legislative assistant for the United States Office of Education, where he served as a liaison to Members of Congress and committee staffs, including the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Labor and Welfare Committee. During these years he worked on such landmark legislation as the Higher Education Act of 1965, and helped to shepherd through Congress numerous Great Society programs.

After the extensive career in Puerto Rican affairs which followed, Guy spent several years as a city affairs consultant and then went to work in 1988 as a special assistant and senior advisor to the Executive Director of The United States Conference of Mayors, Tom Cochran. In 1995 his duties expanded when he became Managing Editor of the U.S. Mayor newspaper and a member of the National Press Club. He remained close to Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican issues throughout.

On numerous occasions during his career, Guy represented the United States government and mayors internationally, traveling extensively on official delegations to many Caribbean, Latin American and European countries. It was reputed that the Cuban government attempted to have him removed from a visiting mayoral delegation due to his close association with the Statehood movement; they did not prevail but it is said that he was the sole member of the delegation not to receive an official greeting from the Cuban President, Fidel Castro.

Guy Francis Smith will be remembered for his love of people, his devotion to the underdog and underserved, his impatience with incompetent politicians, his admiration for competent ones, his love of students, and, most of all, his humor and insight.

In his early papers Guy wrote, "Giving is receiving." This is how he lived and understood life. We will miss him.