He was not on the list.
Phil Smith was just a few years out of law school when he
started working for a mysterious entity acquiring land for what would become
the world's most popular theme-park resort.
As Walt Disney World's first permanent employee, Smith
helped pave the legal path for much of the attraction's development.
Smith, of Minneola, died Tuesday of complications from
kidney disease and COPD. He was 83.
"He really built a very fine legal organization that
really, frankly, kept us out of trouble," said Dick Nunis, retired
chairman of Walt Disney Attractions. "Under Phil Smith I never had to
worry about any legal problems. I knew we had a very competent guy that would
take care of it.
"… His standard quote — this should be on his
gravestone — was, 'Let me see if I can find a way.'"
Smith was originally lured to the job by Paul Helliwell, of
Disney's Miami law firm, in 1965. Disney was quietly buying more than 40 square
miles of Orlando land, and Smith's wife Gwen said her husband didn't even know
at first what company he would represent.
"He really didn't know that it was Disney yet,"
Gwen Smith said.
The secret was unveiled soon after.
One of Smith's biggest accomplishments was helping create
the Reedy Creek Improvement District, an unusual government entity through
which Disney controls its own planning, building codes and emergency services.
By the end of 1966, a 5-inch-thick pile of documents related
to Reedy Creek was ready for the Florida Legislature.
"At first, they were amazed at just the size of
it," Smith told the Orlando Sentinel in 1988. "I right away fielded a
whole bunch of early questions that started out, 'What are you guys doing down
there anyway?' … It took about six weeks to get it safely through the
Legislature, and frankly, we considered that success something of a coup. I
think there was only one 'nay' vote in the Senate and probably not more than
five in the House."
Smith had another role: He watched over Disney's land during
early construction. He, his wife and two toddlers lived on an isolated piece of
property. Smith picnicked with his family on what became Discovery Island.
Syd Jackowitz, a former Disney attorney who worked for
Smith, remembered his former boss having a good sense of humor.
The company had "a fairly harsh form letter" it
would send to people who sought permission to use Disney characters. But when
one man sent a huge Donald Duck figure carved from a carrot, asking if he could
sell similar creations at the Magic Kingdom, Smith didn't have the heart to
send him the standard response, Jackowitz said. He decided to have Disney send
a letter that "recognized how beautiful his work was and that people
should see it, but unfortunately, not in the Magic Kingdom," Jackowitz
said.
Former Disney executive Duncan Dickson described Smith as a
"humble man." Smith's wife used the same description.
"He didn't rub it into people he was the Disney
attorney or anything like that," said Gwen Smith, who met her husband on a
blind date. The couple would have celebrated their 50th anniversary in June.
Smith retired in the early 1990s as Disney World's senior
vice president of administration and support.
"Phil played a significant role in the development of
Walt Disney World and his contributions will long be remembered," Disney
World president George Kalogridis said in an emailed statement. "Our
thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends."
Along with his wife, Smith's survivors include sister Jane
of Chicago; three daughters, Jean Daly of Minneola, Kathryn Hughes of
Tallahassee, Elizabeth Smith of Washington state; son Christopher Smith of
China; and 13 grandchildren.
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