Those who have worked in or closely with the judicial system in central Arkansas mourned the sudden death of Vann Smith this weekend.
The former judge served for more than three decades in the 6th Judicial Circuit Court, which covers Pulaski and Perry counties.
Smith, 71, died of what appears to be natural causes Saturday, those close to him said. He retired from his position in 2020 after serving on the bench for 32 years.
To many he served with, he was known not only as a fair judge but as an advisor and most of all a friend.
"In my business I meet a lot of different people, in different walks of life," Mackie Pierce, a 6th Judicial Circuit Court judge, said Sunday. "I'd have to say Vann Smith is at the top of my list, in that top group of people that I've had the good fortune to work and meet and interact with, get to know and become friends, and I'm a better person for that."
Pierce worked with Smith for 23 years. For 22 of those years, his office was across the hallway from Smith. He said Smith was the first person he went to for advice on cases.
"Even after he has been off the bench, now a year, I could still call him and ask, 'What do you think about this issue and this set of facts?'" Pierce said. "I got to visit with him Friday by phone about an issue and a couple issues we were facing as judges."
Pierce was not the only judge who respected Smith's opinion.
Since 2003, the judges in the 6th Judicial Circuit Court voted Smith into the administrative judge position annually. He held the position until he retired.
"One year he announced he wasn't running and he got re-elected anyway," Chip Welch, 6th Judicial Circuit Court Judge, said Sunday. "One year he nominated another judge and was still re-elected. "
Administrative judge is not an easy position, Welch and Pierce both said. They separately described it as "herding cats" or, more accurately, 16 other judges.
The position is in charge of the court's schedule and distribution of cases. It also maintains communication with the Arkansas Supreme Court.
"Sometimes there were disagreements on how cases should be assigned or to whom, and I think he did a very good job of solving the differences people might have," Marion Humphrey, who served as a judge with Smith from 1993 to 2010, said.
Smith and Humphrey bonded in and outside of work, as Smith seemed to with many of his coworkers.
"Vann was a fellow Presbyterian," Humphrey said. "We've had that in common and had further reason for building a bond and relationship."
Humphrey, Pierce and Welch all said Smith was known as a fair judge.
Smith received attention for a ruling in a same-sex case in Perry County in 2009. The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld his ruling that a non-biological parent for a child produced in a same-sex relationship would have visitation rights. At the time it was an issue that had never been discussed in court previously.
"This was just terribly unfair," Welch, who first met Smith in 1967 at Hall High, said. "He was pretty much fair to everybody."
Welch said Smith retired so he could spend time with his wife, Cathy, and children.
"He and Cathy were a great couple," Welch said. "They were looking forward to spending retirement together."
Pierce said he was still in shock from the news. He had the phone call Friday with Smith and also a lunch earlier in the week.
"It hasn't soaked in totally yet," Pierce said. "It doesn't seem real. He wasn't sick. He was in good health. It was just something that happened. The good Lord decided for him."
Pierce said Smith was more than a judge for many in the community.
"He was a baseball coach, father, husband," Pierce said. "He was a good friend. He devoted a tremendous amount of time to young men and teaching them baseball. He had a sharp sense of humor."