[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 6, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H23]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING OUR FRIEND RICHARD SMITH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Farr) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a good friend, Richard Smith.
  Mr. DENHAM. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FARR. I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. DENHAM. I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), my good 
friend, as we both recognize an amazing life of a good friend and 
acknowledge and honor the life of this personal friend and beloved 
community leader, Rich Smith.
  He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, who passed away 
peacefully in the comforts of his home, surrounded by his family, on 
December 27, 2015.
  Born on December 19, 1946, Rich was raised in Walnut Creek, 
California. Growing up, Rich's family was involved in 4-H, and 
agriculture had always played a major role in his life. Rich continued 
down this path by obtaining a bachelor of science degree in ag science 
and management from the University of California, Davis in 1968.
  Originally, Rich was interested in the technical aspects of 
agriculture. He worked in a lab performing analysis on soil, water, and 
plant nutrition. Never did Rich believe he would be the owner of a 
successful wine company, but in 1987, this became a reality when he and 
his new bride, Claudia, purchased the vineyard known as Paraiso 
Vineyards.
  Today Paraiso Vineyards is owned and operated by the Smith family and 
is located in the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County. The family 
business consists of almost 3,000 acres of vineyards and continues to 
evolve in all aspects. Rich leaves behind a tremendous legacy that can 
be celebrated and appreciated by everyone who visits this magnificent 
vineyard.
  Rich had a generous spirit and provided lasting contributions to the 
community. He was a local hero to the Salinas Valley, and he 
demonstrated time and again a desire to share his resources and talents 
with others.
  I was one of those whom he shared his talents with as he encouraged, 
supported, and advised me to run for political office. Rich's motto 
always was: Treat people the way that you want to be treated. All that 
were lucky enough to spend time with him found that he truly lived by 
these words. Rich will forever be remembered for his kindness, 
generosity, leadership, and love.
  On kindness and generosity, he and Claudia were kind enough and 
generous enough to host, 23 years ago, then my fiance, now my wife, 
Sonia, and our wedding at the beautiful Paraiso Springs.
  On leadership and love, as I was in the State senate, Rich provided 
leadership for not only the State of California, but the Salinas 
Valley, the wine industry, creating a wine mecca, pioneering Monterey 
County to be a leader in wine production as well as a new tourism 
corridor.
  His love for family and his community was unmatched. He is a friend 
that is going to be forever missed. Not only was he a leader, a very 
kind man, a very generous man, but he had a tremendous sense of humor. 
I will never forget soon after our marriage, his daughter, Sonia's best 
friend, was being married at Paraiso Springs as well, and a funny 
episode happened where Sonia passed out in the middle of the wedding. 
Rich seized the moment to rib me a little bit and my new mother-in-law. 
He made it clear that he thought that Sonia may be pregnant on that 
day. It was a funny gesture that, as a young man, made me a little 
nervous at the time, but he will always be a friend and sorely missed.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, we both got to know Rich through politics. It 
is amazing that he was a person who supported us both: Jeff being a 
Republican, myself being a Democrat; Jeff being in the State 
legislature, I being in the State legislature.
  I got to know him when I was a county supervisor in Monterey County. 
Rich was always the go-to guy to really do sort of the technical issues 
that you drill down deep on a lot of controversial agricultural issues. 
His ideas were always based on good science, good farming practices, 
always sort of the idea of conservation in the best sense of the word.
  He also was participatory in my daughter's wedding because the wines 
we served at that wedding were from Rich's vineyards. In fact, I 
brought a bottle of his wine today here on the floor to show the world 
that this man did some great things. His wines were served also at 
many, many charitable events that they did at their vineyards.
  He and Claudia were kind of leaders. Claudia was very interested in 
getting the whole ecotourism, agritourism involved to get people out 
into seeing how agriculture is really produced, and wine visits are 
obviously a good way of attracting people, but the knowledge of it.
  We are going to really miss him. He was a great person, and I am glad 
that we are able to create a national park right across from his 
vineyard so he can always stare at it.
  Got bless Richard Smith and the great wines he made.

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