Longtime Kitsap Bank board chair, Helen Langer Smith, dies at 94

A Kitsap business leader, philanthropist and member of a Port Orchard family that has influenced the county for decades has died.

Helen Langer Smith, who served as Kitsap Bank's board chair for 25 years (1986-2011) and as part the bank's board for more than 70 years, passed away July 28, the bank announced in a statement. She was 94.

“Helen was a remarkable leader, business person, banker and human being," Kitsap Bank's CEO Steve Politakis said. "She genuinely cared about Kitsap Bank’s employees and their families and got to know as many as she could through the years.  She also cared about her community and set the tone in Kitsap Bank’s ongoing commitment to giving back, both in donations and through active volunteerism,”

The bank will continue to honor Langer Smith's legacy, Politakis said. Kitsap Bank's family ownership continues under the leadership of chairwoman Cydly Langer Smith and director Melinda Pigors, Langer Smith's daughters.

From Port Orchard to Medina

Helen Langer Smith was the daughter of Frank and Hannah Langer, and followed in the footsteps of her mother, Kitsap Bank's fifth president and the first female bank president west of the Mississippi River. Born and raised in Port Orchard, she attended South Kitsap School District and graduated from South Kitsap High in 1946.

Langer Smith earned degrees in journalism and English degree from the University of Washington in 1950. She continued her education to study radio and television broadcasting at Columbia University in New York and later moved back to Seattle to work at KING-TV.

Her father Frank Langer, the bank’s fourth president, died in 1953, when Langer Smith was just 21. After her father's death, Langer Smith shifted her career to banking and joined the Seattle Trust and Savings Bank to gain experience. She later joined Seattle First National Bank (now a part of Bank of America), and became one of the first women to enter that bank's formal banker training program.

In 1961, Langer Smith married general surgeon Dr. Meredith P. (Buz) Smith. They raised a family in Medina, where Langer Smith continued to live, including three daughters, Cydly Langer Smith, Stephanie Smith and Melinda Smith Pigors.

Contributions to the community

Langer Smith's tenure at the Kitsap Bank's Board of Directors started in 1953, following her father's death. She served on the board for 70 years, making her one of the longest serving bank directors in the country, according to Kitsap Bank, which has been privately owned by the Langer Family for over 90 years.

Langer Smith and her family have contributed to Kitsap programs and nonprofits for decades, including support for Martha & Mary, North Kitsap Fishline, Poulsbo Historical Society and Kitsap County Historical Society, among others.

In 2015, Langer Smith authorized Kitsap Bank to donate $500,000 to South Kitsap School District to build a new athletic field at South Kitsap High School. She and her husband also endowed scholarships at Olympic College and the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

In the late 1980s, she participated in the rescue of the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton, and was a founding member of the Admiral Theatre Foundation Board of Directors who served on the board from 1990 to 2013.

Brian Johnson, executive director of Admiral Theatre, recalled Langer Smith's long-term support to the theatre. In 1999, when the theater's foundation was struggling financially and risked missing a payment, Langer Smith wrote a personal note to a childhood friend, Bill Gates Sr., asking for help.

"And then almost the day before we were ready to hand the keys back to the city, a $300,000 check came from Bill Gates (Sr.)," Johnson said. The timely check saved the theater.

Langer Smith would continue in recent years to write handwritten letters to the Admiral's leadership team with words of encouragement, and attached newspaper clips whenever the theater was mentioned in the Seattle Times, Johnson said.

"We appreciate the bank and her support over the years," Johnson said.

Langer Smith's generosity continues through the bank’s community connections program. The program supports over 100 nonprofits with over $500,000 in donations annually, according to Kitsap Bank.

The story was updated since it was first published to correct Helen Langer Smith's age when she passed away and her husband's profession.

Reporter Peiyu Lin covers the military and South Kitsap for the Kitsap Sun. She can be reached at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.

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This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Helen Langer Smith, Kitsap Bank boardmember for 70 years