Obituary: Steve Smith

It is with our greatest sorrow to announce the passing of Steve Smith, Senior Director of Agriculture at Red Gold on February 17, 2021. For many years, Steve had been WPTC and Tomato News go-to person for information on the tomato processing industry in the US outside of California and we will sorrowly miss his expertise and friendship. 
 
Steve has been an important member and friend of the Red Gold family for nearly 32 years. Throughout his career, Steve was active in many phases of the company, beginning as Distribution Manager and 14 years as Agriculture Manager, before becoming Senior Director of Agriculture. 
 
Steve had many great accomplishments throughout his tenure. He was the founder and Chairman of ‘Save Our Crops Coalition,’ a national group dedicated to protecting sensitive crops from damage implicit with the release of growth regulator herbicide tolerant crops. He was co-chair for Red Gold’s Sustainability Initiative and served on the Sysco Corporation National Sustainability Advisory Board. Steve was a courageous and strong advocate for the processing tomato industry in areas of research, federal crop insurance, and product labeling, serving in several capacities with the Mid-America Food Processor Association. Steve was admired throughout our industry as an expert in his field.
 
At Red Gold, Steve was a skilled professional, a gifted public speaker, a trusted confidant and most importantly, a friend who will be greatly missed. All over the country, Steve’s friends and everyone in our tomato processing community will be learning of and grieving his passing today. His reach and influence extended beyond the Midwest, into California, Canada and even other continents. Today, we have lost someone beyond special to the industry and to many of us.
 
Steve cherished his family and any mention of his grandchildren always brought a big smile to his face. Please keep Steve’s wife, Kathy, his daughter Renee Dunham, and his entire family in your thoughts and prayers. Funeral and visitation information will be updated when available.