Dr. Michael R. Smith of Pasco, WA passed away at Kadlec Regional Medical Center, the evening of Tuesday, December 19th, 2017, at the age of 72, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Michael was born on June 15, 1945 in Vanport, OR, to Lewis Edwin Smith and Stella June Bartram. The relationship between Lewis and Stella ended shortly thereafter, and Lewis remarried to Florence Rodkey, who became Michael's beloved mother. The family lived for a brief time in Independence, Missouri before settling in southern California. The family moved to Okinawa, Japan in the summer of 1954 then Hokkaido, Japan in 1956. It was there that Michael developed a life-long interest in nature and science. The time spent in Japan provided him with his fondest childhood memories. The family relocated back to the United States in September 1959, and after residing in various places within the States, the family re-settled in southern California. Michael graduated from Gardenia High School in June 1963. He met Sharon Elaine Tanner in 1967 in Los Angeles County, and they were married on October 5, 1968. Their son, Michael Stuart Smith was born in 1969, followed by their daughter, Stephanie Anne Smith, in 1972. They resided in Lawndale, CA until 1980 when they relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended El Camino College in Torrance, CA, and Long Beach City College in Long Beach, CA, prior to completing his B.S. degree in Microbiology in 1967 at California State College, Long Beach. After graduation, he completed his Medical Technologist and Public Health Microbiologist certifications, and worked as a Medical Technologist throughout his graduate studies and Post-doctoral work to support his family. He was accepted into graduate school in 1970 at the University of California, Los Angeles and graduated with his Ph.D. in Microbiology in 1976 from UCLA. He published his dissertation on "The Purification of Pseudouridine Synthetase II" under the direction of Dr. Donald Nierlich. Michael then went on to complete his Post-doctoral work (1976-1980) under the direction of Dr. Robert Mah at UCLA. It is during this time that he began work on one of his most significant and ground-breaking accomplishments. He isolated and characterized an acetate-fermenting strain of Methanosarcina (strain 227), and showed for the first time that acetate could be converted directly into methane and CO2 without the addition of external sources of H2. His further studies showed that acetate was the sole carbon and energy source for this microorganism, and he began work to elucidate the electron transport mechanisms involved in this conversion. After completing his postdoc, he worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service at the Western Regional Research Center in Albany, CA from 1980 until the time of his retirement in 2008. He continued his studies on Methanosarcina, and wrote a chapter on "The Methanogenic Bacteria", which was published in the book The Prokaryotes: A Handbook on Habits, Isolation, and Identification of Bacteria, published in 1981. While working for the USDA, he worked on a number of other projects of significance including the sporulation of Clostridium cylindrosporum, insoluble glucan formation by Leuconostoc mesenteroides, cellular association of glucosyltransferases in Leuconostoc mesenteroides, production and characterization of amylase by Arthrobacter psychrolactophilus, and studies on Bacillus licheniformis' xylanase. He retired from the USDA in August 2008, after 27 years of dedicated service, thus achieving his dream of being an accomplished scientist. His interest in science continued long beyond his retirement, and his work and accomplishments will live on. Upon his retirement, Michael and his wife relocated to Pasco, WA in 2009, to be close to his father, brothers, and children. Michael was a loving and dedicated father, husband, brother and son. He worked hard throughout his life to support and care for his family and he will be missed deeply. Michael is survived by his wife Sharon Elaine (Tanner) Smith of Pasco, WA; his son Michael Smith, (Wanda) of Spokane Valley, WA; his daughter Stephanie Smith-Rohde, (Harold) of Potlatch, ID; his brother Edwin Smith of Pasco, WA; his twin brother, Richard Smith of West Richland, WA; and his father Lewis Smith of Pasco, WA. He is also survived by his grandchildren Jordan Smith, Jocelyn Smith and Connor Rohde, and his step-grandchildren Jacquelyn (Schopfer) Pettit and Jerralyn Schopfer. He was preceded in death by his step-mother Florence (Rodkey) Smith (d. 2003) of Pasco, WA, and his brother Ronald Smith (d. 2015) of Santee, CA. Visitation will be held on Friday, December 29th from 5-8 pm at Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home located at 1608 W Court St, Pasco, WA. Services will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, December 30th at Mueller's Greenlee Funeral Home, followed by interment at 2:30 pm at Sunset Memorial Gardens located at 915 Bypass Hwy, Richland, WA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) or the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). Checks made payable to the AAAS Philanthropy Office, in memory of Dr. Michael R. Smith, can be mailed to 1200 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005. Checks made payable to SCCA, in memory of Dr. Michael R. Smith, can be mailed to P.O. Box 19023, Seattle WA 98109-1023, or call (206) 606-2070 or (877) 308-3117 to make a donation by phone.