For Diana Smithson, one day in July 1991 was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
"My 5-year-old son Eric says his throat is really sore and it hurts," says Smithson, a senior vice president at Bank OZK. "I'm thinking 'it's summertime. What kind of cold do you get in the summer?'"
A quick trip to the doctor left Smithson and her son with a simple diagnosis of strep throat. On the way home from the doctor's office, things took a quick turn for the worse.
"After leaving the doctor's office, Eric is starting to turn blue," Smithson says. "I have a 5-year-old turning blue around the lips, and he also can't speak coherently. Off I go to [Arkansas] Children's Hospital. We are in the ER. I kept getting questions if he has chewed on toys. No, he's not a chewer. Well, it turns out that something is blocking his trachea and his airflow. They come back at 3 a.m, and we have to intubate him and put him on a breathing machine. Wow. There is nothing more paralyzing than seeing your baby sedated in an ICU isolation unit wearing Spiderman underwear."
Eventually, the diagnosis of epiglottitis, a bacterial infection, comes back and Smithson's son has a full recovery but not before spending a week in the hospital. Smithson and her husband never left their son's side even as this meant sleeping overnight at the hospital. At that time, the hospital didn't have a way to house or care for parents spending the night with sick kids.
On Friday, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas will celebrate the grand opening of the Ronald McDonald Family Room at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The Family Room has been created to help families with a baby in UAMS' neonatal intensive care unit who also have a child at home. The new space includes four sleeping rooms, an open kitchen, a play area and laundry and bathroom facilities.
Smithson has played an integral part in the charitable work at Ronald McDonald House. She has recently completed six years on the board of the charity, serving three years as board chairwoman. Her volunteer work with the Ronald McDonald House is just one part of her extended work with a number of nonprofit organizations.
"[Diana] is an amazing volunteer," says Janell Mason, executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas. "If something needs to be done, she is the first to step up and do it. She has been the ultimate supporter for the organization. It really is exciting when you find someone so passionate, such a champion for our cause."
Mason is particularly proud of the Family Room opening at UAMS.
"When we met with the UAMS medical team, and we announced [the new Family Room]," Mason says. "It was so exciting. They [burst] into tears and we were jumping up and down. The UAMS NICU unit is extensive and sometimes they have 75 babies there."
For Smithson, opening the Family Room is especially poignant given her early experience with her young son.
"My passionate job is taking care of families," Smithson says.
Smithson was born and raised an only child in Benton. She was close to her parents and her grandmother. She saw in her mother a model for taking care of others.
"My grandmother developed degenerative bone disorder in the early '70s," Smithson says. "She was physically handicapped and confined to a wheelchair. My mother was her caregiver. My mother or my grandmother never complained. Tough women."
The habit for volunteering for good causes was one Smithson picked up early.
"When I was 14, I was a volunteer candy striper at the Saline County hospital," Smithson says. "I rotated through the various parts of the hospital. Your role as a candy striper was to bring a smile to the people who were trying to recover. You greeted everyone with a smile when you brought them the newspaper or other things. When you compound this with watching my mother take care of my grandmother daily, I knew that service to others was important."
Smithson calls herself "competitive" and this trait demonstrated itself in various ways. Basketball, kickball and track occupied a major part of what Smithson calls her "sports-minded youth." Whether it was games on a field or court or studies in a classroom, Smithson was in it to win it.
"My parents encouraged me to study. But mostly, I pushed myself," Smithson says. "It's a part of my inner drive. I saw my classes as a competition against other students. I remember in an AP Western Civics class that I had a 98. I knew I was getting an A at the end. But I still did an extra credit project. I wanted to get the highest A in the class."
Graduating as one of five valedictorians of her Benton High School class, Smithson wanted to waste no time in heading to college and graduating into the world of work.
After graduating, she earned a full scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
"My favorite subject was biology. So I signed up for the nursing program thinking I would become a nurse as soon as possible. I was in love with the book work with nursing but not in love with the hands-on clinic work. On field days when we went out to hospitals, I couldn't handle the touching of patients. I had to switch majors. It knocked me out of my full scholarship."
Though this meant that Smithson had to work and go to school at the same time, she was undeterred. The part-time job Smithson landed while in college held more reward than a simple paycheck at the end of the week. The work spoke to Smithson's exacting nature and her spirit of competitiveness. It was work where she could easily measure her progress.
"I started working as a bank teller," Smithson says. "It was a part-time job while I was going to school. As a bank teller, there was satisfaction in making sure your drawer was balanced at the end of the day. You feel successful and fulfilled. There were paper metrics to follow, how many customers you serviced. It's the hardest job in the bank, and it's for entry-level pay. But I saw the banking field as a fit for me."
While in high school, Smithson worked on the books for an auto dealership a few hours after her school day was over. She was being noticed and not just for her work adding up debits and credits.
"You know the expression for every introvert there's an extrovert?," Smithson asks. "My husband is the introvert, and I'm the extrovert. In the dealership, he was an auto technician back in the shop. He was so shy he sent his boss in to do investigative work on me. He didn't have a clue if I was single. So my boss says, 'I hear that Jack in the shop wants to ask you out.' I said, 'Which one is Jack?' He said he's the tall one that looks like Tom Selleck. I waited and waited. It took him two weeks to ask me out. He was a nervous wreck."
Smithson has been married to her nervous mechanic for 29 years.
"He is level-headed. Thinks everything through very thoroughly. He is consistent and predictable. I am the exact opposite. He keeps me grounded."
HOME BANKING
After earning her business degree from UALR, Smithson committed to the banking field, rapidly moving up from her bank teller position. By the time she was 25, she was employed by Worthen Bank and was head of a department with 50 employees. Along the way, she has had a close-up view of all the various tasks in a bank.
Smithson has significant time working for Regions and Iberia banks on her resume. Her move to Bank OZK was born out of a desire to be at an institution that's a product of her home state.
"It became important to me to be at bank truly committed to Arkansas," Smithson says. "Bank OZK is that bank. We are headquartered here. We have a sizable force here in Little Rock as well [as] in Ozark. We are building a new campus. That campus speaks for itself."
The new Bank OZK headquarters, a $98 million dollar facility, is under construction on Arkansas 10 in west Little Rock. Smithson says the new headquarters will be open by "the second quarter of 2020."
Her current job title indicates that she makes commercial loans, but she considers herself as a "manager of financial relationships of the clients assigned to me. I am the clients' one call to the bank for all services."
"Diana is really from a banking perspective a special breed," says John Carter, chief credit officer at Bank OZK. "I worked side-by-side with her at Regions Bank before coming [to Bank OZK]. I've worked with Diana for 15 years. I've had a close-up view of Diana and her competitive edge. She really provides world-class service. I've never heard a customer say a bad word about her. That makes her a standout in the banking community."
Smithson is happy that she works for an institution that supports and encourages her time as a volunteer.
"My heart is settled with nonprofits," Smithson says. "I have been involved with the arts and fundraising for arts organizations. ... [Banks] are allowed to capture your service hours for their end-of-the-year assessment reports."
In 2018 Smithson was named Outstanding Fundraiser by the Arkansas Chapter of the Association for Fundraising Professionals.
Smithson is not shy in pulling those in her orbit to assist in her efforts for the Ronald McDonald House and other organizations.
"My husband likes to say that he got 'voluntold' to do something," Smithson says. "But he is great in doing whatever it takes. He will pass out water bottles for a run. The color runs where you are throwing colored chalk on racers didn't make much sense to him."
GROWING FAMILY
Of late, the family members in Smithson's orbit has expanded.
"I had a friend who passed in December 2015," Smithson says. "She was raising her granddaughter and had legal custody of her. So I talked to Jack and said, 'I believe God wants me to take care of this child.' I petitioned the court for guardianship of Alexis. Alexis became part of our household after that."
Adding a new member to the house meant that Smithson and her family would move to a bigger place that would include some land. This new homestead includes a rabbit that lives indoors and that Smithson swears "acts like a dog." It also includes more than a dozen chickens.
"Every chicken has a distinct personality," Smithson says. "You can pet them. Some will let you pet them and others don't want to have anything to do with that."
Smithson's heart for volunteering remains strong. She will admit to being concerned that the younger generation will continue to give and serve others in need.
"How do you reach them to buy into [this work]," Smithson openly wonders. "We have to convince them to give their time and talent. We have to hope that they feel compelled to give because it's so important."
SELF PORTRAIT
• DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: Feb 5, 1970, Benton
• THE PLACE WHERE I CAN GET AWAY FROM IT ALL: Lake Nimrod for fishing -- my peaceful place.
• WHAT KEEPS ME MOTIVATED TO VOLUNTEER MY TIME: The words of "thank you" from families that have been served and lives [affected].
• MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT: My mother's kitchen table -- all good food served there!
• MY FOUR GUESTS AT MY FANTASY DINNER PARTY: Ronald Reagan; Gen. George S. Patton; my husband, Jack; and Clint Eastwood.
• IF I COULD WAVE A MAGIC WAND, I WOULD: give it to someone else so they could wave the magic wand (not kidding).
• ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Dedicated
High Profile on 01/26/2020