His signature “happy day” greeting and a warm smile – that was all Carson residents needed from the forefather of the city in recent years.
After all, he’d done so much for Carson, from the very beginning, helping to bring the city into existence.
Carson held a memorial tribute for Gilbert D. Smith, a founder of the city and its first African American mayor, on Friday, Jan. 17.
Smith died Nov. 19, 2024. He was 90 years old.
Shirley Smith attends a public memorial for her husband, the late City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith, in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Thomas A. Parham, president of CSUDH, embraces Shirley Smith after speaking during a public memorial for the City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Thomas A. Parham, president of CSUDH, speaks during a public memorial for the City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes attends a public memorial for the City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
City Council Member Cedric Hicks attends the public memorial for City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Former State Senator and candidate for Lt. Governor Steven Bradford speaks during a public memorial for City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Thomas A. Parham, president of CSUDH, speaks during a public memorial for the City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Shirley Smith attends a public memorial for her husband, the late City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith, in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
City council members Cedric Hicks, Jim Dear and Mayor Pro Tem Jawane Hilton speak during a public memorial for City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
City Councilman Jim Dear attends a public memorial for the City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Katie Pandolfo and Tamala Lewis attend a public memorial for founder and former mayor of the City of Carson, Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith, in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
The City of Carson is hosts a public memorial for founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Show Caption1 of 22Shirley Smith attends a public memorial for her husband, the late City of Carson founder and former mayor Gilbert D. “Gil” Smith, in appreciation for his service at the Carson Event Center on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
ExpandAround 100 gathered for the public memorial at the Carson Event Center, about two months after Smith’s family and those who knew him celebrated his life at a private funeral.
As an inaugural mayor of Carson, Gil Smith played a pivotal role in shaping the city’s foundation and guiding its early development.
Gil was one of the first presidents of the Citizen’s Committee for the incorporation of the City of Carson. That group formed in 1963, spearheading the city’s incorporation in 1968.
Before that, the city was an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County for decades.
The banquet style room on Friday was decorated with Smith’s photos, accolades and achievements over the years, including his skilled drawings.
Smith was born on May 9, 1934, in Los Angeles. City and state officials and community members rode by his house for his 90th birthday last year in a mini parade of sorts, some stopping to sit and talk with him, like Carson Councilmember Cedric Hicks said Friday that Smith preferred folks to do anyway.
Smith enlisted in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps after graduating from Manual Arts High School, and was discharged in 1960. He then pursued an art education at Trade Technical College before jumping into political activism.
After the successful incorporation in 1968 and serving as a council member, Smith served as mayor of Carson from 1970 to 1971, the second-ever and the first Black mayor of the city. He continued to serve on the council until 1980.
During his tenure, Smith with his colleagues developed 13 parks, planted 3,000 trees and improved local infrastructure, according to Smith’s obituary, all which transformed the previously agricultural and industrial area into a thriving city.
When reflecting on his own legacy, his obituary reads, the Carson forefather said that his goal was “to transform an area littered with junkyards and scrub brush and build a beautiful city where a spirit of pride prevails.”
Smith returned to being a Carson official in 1998 when he served as interim city manager for that year.
Smith was involved in every aspect of the city.
He was also instrumental in making sure California State University Dominguez Hills ended up in Carson. When original plans to create the college in Palos Verdes fell through, Dominguez Hills was one of the next options.
Although the Watts Riots in 1965 threw a wrench in the plans to put the college in what would a few years later become Carson, Smith continued to submit proposals throughout that year to ensure his city would have a university.
Smith also helped preserve early residents’ homes.
Carson resident Carmeta Sturdivant said Friday that around the time the city was founded, she and her mother nearly lost their home. It was in an industrial zone, and was going to get torn down.
The mortgage was $95, but rent at at apartment elsewhere was $900; they couldn’t afford that, she said. Sturdivant and her mother decided they had to fight to keep their house.
“We started a petition and got to know the people on the City Council,” Sturdivant said during public remarks at the Friday service, calling Smith a statesman, not a politician. “Gil voted to change the zoning from industrial to residential to save my house. I’m still in it now.”
Some monuments are also set to go up around Carson to honor Smith’s life and legacy in perpetuity.
“Gil Smith Plaza” will be the name of the gathering space outside of Cal State Dominguez Hills’ newest student building, CSUDH President Thomas Parham said Friday.
Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes, meanwhile, announced that the city will sponsor a bust of Smith to be installed at a to-be-determined spot around town.
Smith was a mentor to many city officials and residents.
“I called him my captain because he navigated my political career,” Mayor Lula Davis Holmes said Friday.
She’d always call him for advice, she added, and he’d unwaveringly give it. The two had a similar entry into city government, as Davis Holmes was the first African American woman on the Carson City Council, elected in 2007.
“‘If you take care of your residents, you will be successful,’” Davis Holmes recalled Smith telling her. “For that, I’m grateful. This city is what it is because of Gil.”
Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) also credits Smith for the success in his political career.
“I wouldn’t have been the first African American elected to Gardena City Council if it wasn’t for his encouragement,” Bradford said.
It took him four campaigns to make it onto the leadership panel, he added, with Smith urging him to try again and again.
“He made me aware that it wasn’t about winning or losing; the assignment was about the work,” Bradford said.
“I’m honored to call him a mentor, friend, and family because that’s how he treated me,” Bradford said. “There were always happy days when he was around me,” Bradford said, nodding to Smith’s catch phrase.
Smith also worked much of his life to support research for sickle cell anemia, as two of his three sons were born with the disease. The condition is a blood disorder that at the time was poorly understood and under-treated among African American people.
Although his doctors said that his sons would not live past their teenage years, Smith’s son Jeffrey died at 23 years old, and his son Christopher died in his early 60s.
Smith’s priority was to find life saving care while they were alive, and he built a treatment infrastructure to raise awareness and educate healthcare professionals. He finally saw the first sickle cell outpatient clinic, named in honor of Jeffrey Smith, open in 2019 at the Martin Luther King Hospital in Willowbrook.
Smith’s family asks that those considering a gesture of sympathy opt to support the Sickle Cell Foundation with a donation, rather than sending flowers: Sickle Cell Disease Foundation, www.scdfc.org/; info@scdfc.org.
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