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Remembering Helen Langer Smith -- 70 Year Director, Vice-Chairwoman

June 5, 1929 - July 28, 2023Helen

Helen Langer Smith was born in Port Orchard, WA June 5, 1929, the daughter of Frank E. Langer and Hannah Norum Langer.  She attended school in the South Kitsap School District, graduating from high school in the class of 1946.  Helen was athletic and was a cheerleader all six years throughout junior high and high school.

Helen attended the University of Washington, graduating cum laude with a Journalism/English degree and an Economics minor in 1950.  Active in the campus community, she was President of Mortar Board and served on staff of both the Tyee yearbook and the school paper, The Daily.  She pledged Delta Gamma Sorority, was very involved with the  Associated Women Students; and was also President of Rally Girls, the Husky cheerleading squad.  According to Helen, “The University was everything I wanted.  It was truly a golden age.”

Helen traveled to Europe with a friend after graduation, and upon returning to the US, she stayed in New York to continue her education studying radio and television broadcasting at Columbia University.  She was offered a cooking show, but declined because she didn’t think she knew enough about cooking.  While in school, she worked for Bergdorf’s modeling, merchandising and in retail.  She later moved back to Seattle to work for KING TV. 

Helen started her banking career when she joined the Board of Directors of Kitsap County Bank in January 1953 following the death of her father, who had been the bank’s president.   She also began working for the family-owned Seattle Trust and Savings Bank (later Key Bank) in 1953.  During the summer between jobs, she took an interim position managing the YWCA in Seattle.  She then joined Seattle First National Bank (SeaFirst Bank, Bank of America), where she became one of the first women to enter their formal banker training program.  Helen always emphasized the important role of small businesses in society and the positive impact they have on our nation’s economy. 

3 GenerationsShe served on the Kitsap Bank board for more than 70 years, along with her mother, Hannah, who was the first female bank president west of the Mississippi River, and daughters, Cydly Langer Smith and Melinda Smith Pigors.  Helen was elected Board Chair in 1986, presiding for 25 years until March 31, 2011, when her daughter, Cydly, was elected Chairwoman.  Helen continued in the role of Vice Chairwoman to her death.

Helen-CheerleadersHelen’s spirit of philanthropy exemplified Kitsap Bank’s family legacy and its enduring ties with communities in western Puget Sound.  A patron of arts and culture, Helen and her family had a pivotal role in the late 1980’s rescue of the Admiral Theatre, a Bremerton landmark built just after World War II.  Her enduring support of local non-profits extended to numerous organizations such as Martha & Mary, North Kitsap Fishline, Poulsbo Historical Society and Kitsap County Historical Society.  In 2015, Helen authorized a $500,000 donation by Kitsap Bank to South Kitsap School District to build a new state-of-the-art athletic field at her alma mater, South Kitsap High School.  Champions of education, she and her husband also endowed scholarships at Olympic College and University of Washington Foster School of Business.  Helen’s generosity and love of community continued through Kitsap Bank’s Community Connections Program, which supports over 100 non-profit organizations with donations totaling more than one half million dollars annually.

Helen married Dr. Meredith P. (Buz) Smith, a general surgeon, on September 29, 1961.  The couple had three daughters, Cydly Langer Smith (Brian Sato), Stephanie Smith, and Melinda Smith Pigors (Michael Pigors) and three grandchildren, Hannah Pigors, Michael Pigors, and Mari Sato. 

Memorial donations may be made to:

Learn More: News Release

Kitsap Sun Obituary