Monterey Philomene R. Smith (“Phil”) passed peacefully onApril 1, 2025, surrounded by her family. She is survived by daughter Philomene McCleskey and son-in-law Mark, daughter Charlotte Arnold and son-in-law Michael, much beloved grandchildren Caroline and Timothy, her brother Jason C. Reed, and numerous nieces and nephews. Phil’s husband of 59 years, Henry H. Smith (“Hank”), predeceased her in 2016. Her sister Kristan T. Grace and brother Donald B. Reed predeceased her in 2011 and 2024 respectively.

Phil was born in Los Angeles, the eldest child of Howard Lyman Reed and Philomene Chandler Reed. She moved with her family to Monterey in1952 at age 16 and graduated from Monterey Union High School in 1954.

Phil fell in love with her new home in Monterey and the lifelong friends, known affectionately as the mob, she made at MUHS. Their adventures took them on camping trips to Big Sur, hiking in the Sierras, and other “highly entertaining” shenanigans known only tothemselves. After graduation, Phil attended Monterey Peninsula College and worked for the City of Monterey Parks and Recreation department as aplayground supervisor and acoun- selor at day camp (now Whispering Pines) and Camp Quien Sabe. She graduated from MPC in 1956 at the top of her class and attended UCLA, her parents’ alma mater, before marrying Hank in 1957. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with Great Distinction at San Jose State College in 1959.

In the early 1960s, Phil and Hank settled in Monterey and in 1972, after earning her Master of Arts in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado, Phil launched a 29-year teaching career with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District as an elementary school resource specialist and middle school math teacher.

Her connection to the Peninsula ran both wide and deep and reflected her commitment tocivic engagement.

She served onthe Monterey County Juvenile Justice Commission, including as Chair, and the Planning Commission and was active in both the League of Women Voters and the Delta Lambda chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international professional society for women educators.

Phil was an avid hiker and backpacker, with the Emigrant Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada mountains afre- quent and favorite destination for backcountry adventures with her immediate and extended family.

Her lifelong love of the outdoors found its greatest expression through decades of volunteering atthe Fort Ord National Monument, where she worked closely with staff and other volunteers to document and protect native plants, remove invasive species, and support the annual Public Lands Day celebrations. Her extraordinary efforts were recognized numerous times, most recently in October 2023 when she was presented with the Monumental Legacy award for her years of volunteer service.

Phil encouraged everyone she knew tocontinue their education, get outside as much as possible, and learn to use aPulaski. She was always ready to help and, as noted in aheart-felt remembrance from afriend, “push others to make good trouble.”

Those wishing to make agift inPhil’s memory may donate to the Monterey Bay chapter of the California Native Plant Society at www.cnps.org.