Dick Smith, 63, served food, fun
There are lots of stories about Dick Smith, owner of two Seattle breakfast joints, hangouts, watering holes.
Mr. Smith grew up in his parents' restaurants, the Five Point Cafe on Cedar Street and the Mecca, a cafe and saloon on Queen Anne Avenue. He boasted that they were the oldest family-owned eateries in town.
The 6-foot-2-inch bear of a man, who lived his whole life in Magnolia, was probably best known for his pranks and wild antics:
There was the time he hired a bikini-clad woman on roller skates to feed strangers' expired parking meters; the time the axle on his '65 pickup broke under the weight of potatoes he'd driven to Skagit County to buy because they were a nickel a pound cheaper than potatoes for sale closer to home.
He rigged up a rooftop faucet to water the sidewalk and discourage the transients who loitered in front of the Five Point; he created a downtown park — without the city's blessing — in an empty lot so kids could have place to play. He wore a full-length fur coat and top hat to skipper his 65-foot yacht, The Coby, which he outfitted with gold-plated hardware. He took his workers on weeklong vacations; froze prices for his fixed-income regulars; opened his home to an elderly customer who had no place else to go.
Richard "Dick" P. Smith first battled colon cancer in 1997 and thought he'd won. Less than two weeks ago, doctors found that it had returned, spreading to his liver and stomach. He died Monday (Oct. 1), the same day he was admitted to the Kelsey Creek Hospice in Bellevue. He was 63.
"He was the type of person who, if he received a bill in the mail and there was no return envelope, he'd send it back in the same envelope because, golldarnit, he wasn't going to pay for an envelope," recalled Larry Downs, who was selling coffee to restaurants when he first met Mr. Smith. They were friends for 26 years.
Mr. Smith's parents, Frances and Preston Smith, met in the kitchen at Manning's, a long-gone restaurant of 1920s Seattle. In 1929, they opened the Five Point and a year later, the Mecca.
After graduating in 1956 from Queen Anne High School, Mr. Smith played semipro football for a hometown team before joining the Navy. He worked as a diesel mechanic on the USS Menhaden, a submarine that took him to the Far East.
He returned home in 1962 at his parents' request: The World's Fair was coming to town, and they needed his help running the restaurants. He bought the family business in 1975 and clocked long hours, often working 14-hour days.
"What made him work so hard was he didn't want to screw up and disappoint his old man," said Joe Dolan, a longtime customer. "He'd paint the bathroom over instead of leaving some graffiti up. He wanted to run a nice joint."
Another Dick Smith touch: He installed a periscope in the men's room at the Five Point with a clear view of the Space Needle.
Before he got sick in 1997, Mr. Smith took employees on yearly weeklong vacations. They went to the New Orleans jazz festival and the camel races in Virginia City, Nev. "He wanted to acknowledge their efforts because he knew he couldn't do it without them," said Downs.
A scuba diver and art lover, Mr. Smith helped establish the Francis T. Miller Organ Transplant Foundation in 1996 after a friend died of kidney failure
In 1992, Mr. Smith and his fourth wife, Darlene, asked Gordon Marwick to live with them. Marwick, who ate almost daily at the Mecca, was 97. The Smiths paid for a nurse to take care of him until he died five years later.
"Dick Smith broke the mold," Downs said. "He had a very big heart."
Along with his wife of 12 years, Mr. Smith is survived by his children, Preston and Maryann, and stepdaughter, Tracey Bennett, all of Seattle.
Services will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Bothell Funeral Home, 18224 103rd Ave. N.E., Bothell, followed by a motorcycle escort to Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery, 11111 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle. Friends are encouraged to attend a reception from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Mecca Saloon & Cafe, 526 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Sara Jean Green can be reached at 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com