EDITORIAL: Kids and community have no better friends

Coeur d’Alene didn’t just happen to become one of the finest places to live in all the land.

Amazing people made it that way.

Luckily for all of you reading this editorial, some of those people continue to keep the community on its upward trajectory through support in ways on and off the public radar.

Midge and Don “Pepper” Smock come immediately to mind.

Maybe you noticed the recent article after Pepper and Midge donated $25,000 to Safe Passage, a life-saving local nonprofit. Safe Passage, which started in 1977, provides resources, support, and crisis intervention for adults and children affected by domestic and sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking.

For many of those years, Midge and Pepper have been advocates. Their generous gifts have sometimes been announced in The Press as a further gift to Safe Passage. The Smocks aren’t after recognition for themselves. They agree to Press requests for publicity only because they want to raise awareness about Safe Passage and its essential mission in the region.

Once in a while, news of a philanthropic touch from the Smocks, owners of Windermere/Coeur d’Alene Realty, reaches the newsroom and becomes fodder for a short article. For example, a bronze bust honoring another of the community’s all-time leading citizens, the late Dr. Ted Fox, was donated to Coeur d’Alene Library in late July.

It was paid for by Pepper Smock, and not just because he’s among those who valued the doc who delivered thousands of Coeur d’Alene babies in his career. Dr. Fox was also a strong advocate for the city’s library — another institution cherished by Pepper, who served as one of its trustees for 18 years.

The bust’s sculptor, Bryan Ross of Sagle, described Dr. Fox as “respected, kind, generous and humble — a good man.” The same can be said of Pepper Smock.

Those fortunate enough to know the family well might be aware of other unpublicized acts of benevolence with Smock fingerprints on them, complementing the local philanthropy of their Windermere Foundation. With bettering the lives of children as a prevalent theme, the Smocks have done much of the heavy lifting for decades, always with smiles, encouragement and unbridled gratitude.

Theirs is the kind of love that builds beautiful communities.