Cliff Smith Obituary, Death – The life of Cliff Smith has ended. We extend our sincerest condolence. At the close of World War II, he did his country proud by serving in the Army Air Corps for a total of 17 months. In 1945, after he had been discharged from the military, he wed his high school girlfriend, Ruth Proudfoot. They constructed a house in the city of Ames. As a labor and industrial arbitrator, he was very proud of the contributions he had made to both fields.
He exerted a great deal of effort in each of his hearings to maintain his impartiality and fairness. He was a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and served for a period of time as the chair of the NAA Committee on Research. After mediating more than 400 disputes, he called it quits as an arbitrator in the year 1994. Clifford’s devoted wife of 47 years, Ruth, passed away in 1993. She was his immediate predecesor.
When she fell ill, he was a devoted caregiver for her and looked after her in every way. When he first met Peggy Stoll, a new part of his story had begun to unfold. It was truly a blessing for him to be able to spend his later years in her company. After becoming a member of the Iowa State University faculty, he remained there until the year 1989, during which time he largely taught subjects in human resource management. In 1971, the president of Iowa State University at the time, Robert Parks, approached him with a request to serve as Interim Personnel Director for the university and to develop a merit system for positions other than academics. This was something he did until 1974, when he decided to go back to teaching full-time.
