Friends in St. Louis:

I was a colleague of Kevin Montgomery-Smith's at the Portland Business Alliance before I left there this past December. He was an outstanding talent...smart, quick, thoughtful, civic-minded, but above all -- a loving husband and father.

During my time at the Alliance, Kevin grew to become a great professional friend. I enjoyed our many talks, and can vouch for the fact that he was a rising star. He was well-regarded and respected by Portland's business leadership -- not an easy thing in this day and age.

Kevin often talked of his love for his friends and family in St. Louis, and of the city. He was proud of his work there, and hopeful for its future. I know he wanted to go back some day. And now he will go back.

To say Kevin will be missed just doesn't say what needs to be said. Our best to Kevin's friends in St. Louis from his grieving friends in Portland.

Mike Salsgiver
Portland, OR

We're just stunned here. Kevin had become a good friend, and it doesn't seem possible that he could be gone.

We got to know Kevin in the year before he left St. Louis, and he is truly the reason why I became as involved as I did in downtown issues here. It would be fair to say he was my civic mentor. He recruited me to the Downtown Residents board, he introduced me to Carolyn Toft of Landmarks and other key folks, and when he found out how good the coffee is at our place, he started taking coffee breaks here (Alan and I are both self-employed). Some civic business would be conducted, but he'd also be likely to pick up Alan's guitar and sing a few songs from his old days in a local band. I learned so much from him about this place and its strange politics, and so fast. Some of it I wished I never knew, but it all helped.

We stayed in close touch after he was in Portland. I used to joke with him that he pulled the pin and tossed me into the fray and then took off.

He coached me from the distant sidelines as I and others sought to make change here re. the Century building demolition issue. His understanding of the political landscape and how to work for progress was a huge asset in what we knew was a long shot. He didn't stand for cynicism, though he could see the humor in the absurdities of the politics here.

I always counted on the fact that Kevin would return when the time was right and bring his talents back to helping to move St. Louis forward. To know that won't happen saddens me more than I can express.

Margie Newman

This is really sad and shocking. I hadn't seen him in several years, but Kevin was always a really nice guy. I didn't really work with him directly, but saw him all the time of course.

Very sad.

An article in the Oregonian:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1108990666303890.xml

Kevin's passion for his work set him apart from many of the individuals I have worked with in government. There is a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that I think says it best "The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in worthy cause; who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement, and if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Kevin was never afraid to tackle the hard issues and to fight the good fight. He was a friend and a collegue and he will be missed more than I can say.

Amber G. Miller

I was lucky enough to work with Kevin around 1993 for about a year at Generations Nightclub in south St. Louis County. We were both DJs at the club. The night of his wedding he came in to the nightclub with the entire wedding party, and I will never forget the image of Kevin in his tux and Chuck Taylor Converse tennis shoes. I moved away shortly thereafter, but we did stay in touch for a number of years. Unfortunately, over the last few years we did not keep up the emails and phone calls. I had moved to Baltimore, he to Portland, and we just didn't stay in touch. Now, I regret not being more fastidious. Kevin was truly one of the most intelligent and informed people I ever met. Not just about current events, politics and the like. Also music, movies and more. He taught me the value of movies such as "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Mind's Eye" and I never knew anyone that regularly ranked top 10 nationally on the NTN "playmaker" trivia games we had at the club (silly maybe, but impressive none the less). Amazing recall. He saw things for what they truly were. I found out about his passing today, and I cannot put into words just how shocked I am.