BEAVERTON, Oregon --
Stunned friends and fellow Beaverton police officers Thursday mourned the death of Gardner Smith.
Smith, an avid sprinter in his off-duty hours who also was a stand-up comedian in a Portland nightclub, collapsed New Year’s Eve during a run at the Nike World Campus headquarters. He was 37.
Jeff Grundon, Pacific University’s athletic director and a former football coach, described Smith as “one of the greatest persons you ever wanted to meet in your life.”
The police officer was pronounced dead at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center about 90 minutes after Nike security personnel found him lying on the track about 5:15 p.m., police spokesman Mark Hyde said Thursday.
Dr. Karen Gunson, state medical examiner, said an autopsy Thursday found Smith had an enlarged heart. While he was running, he apparently suffered a wildly erratic heartbeat that stopped his heart, Gunson said.
Smith’s death left police colleagues and his longtime companion, Robin Viol, struggling with the loss of a man whose constant joshing had often helped them through tough situations.
“You couldn’t get him riled,” said Beaverton police Officer Ken Feist. Smith could calm agitated people encountered on police calls with the tone of his voice, Feist said.
“He was the kind of person you wish you could be like,” agreed Officer Tim Lowman. Whenever they patrolled together on foot, Lowman said, “I don’t think he would ever pass by somebody without saying something positive to them.”
The good-natured greetings usually came the other way as well, he said.
Smith’s helpfulness is what introduced him to the Beaverton force about 51/2 years ago, said Police Chief David Bishop.
The chief said his wife and daughter told him Smith had spent three hours helping them get into their locked car at the Washington Square shopping center, where Smith was working as a security guard. Bishop said he went to the shopping center, found Smith and urged him to apply to the Beaverton force.
The chief was too late. Smith had just signed on with the Sherwood Police Department. After serving for a year in Sherwood, Smith moved to the larger city in August 1998.
Smith was the Beaverton Police Department’s only full-time African American officer. The agency has one unpaid reservist who is African American.
Smith was a Pacific University student athlete and aspiring campus comedian in the late 1980s, recalled Steve Klein, the university’s student activities director.
“He was well-liked by all of the students,” Klein said. “People just gravitated toward him.”
Smith, a football running back and track sprinter, emceed a lip-synch competition one year, then came back to win the competition the next year, Klein remembered. “He had a big smile for everybody. The world needs more Gardner Smiths.”
Sudden, heart-related deaths of young and apparently fit people such as Smith scare other people, said Craig Walsh, a cardiologist at St. Vincent who was not involved with trying to resuscitate Smith.
Cardiomyopathy, the abnormal condition that Gunson found had led to Smith’s wildly beating heart and cardiac arrest, is generally rare but is a common cause of sudden deaths among young people, Walsh said.
Such events, the cardiologist said, shouldn’t deter others from regular aerobic exercise -- walking, running, bicycling or swimming -- accompanied by proper diet and regular medical checkups.
Viol, Smith’s companion of four years, said she and the officer had been making plans to marry. She said she was still working Thursday on memorial service arrangements that will include Beaverton police.
Stunned friends and fellow Beaverton police officers Thursday mourned the death of Gardner Smith.