Walter Smit

Obituary of Walter Michael Smit

Walter “Mike” Smit passed away July 14, 2014 in Olympia, WA. He was born January 27, 1964 in Portland, OR, to Walter Nicholas Smit and Sherril Lorree Smit-Irwin. Mike graduated from Portland’s Parkrose High School in 1983, and the ITT Technical Institute in 1986. He also lived in Oregon and Arizona. Mike served in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1989, and married Jennifer A. Dummer on June 27, 1992 at St. Rita Catholic Church in Portland. He worked for Epson (1990-1993) where he met Jennifer, and soon transferred to Intel (1993-2014). Mike was a consummate professional with the highest level of integrity and accountability. Mike helped Intel achieve higher standards and was always there to help others reach those standards. For people who worked closely with Mike, he was a sweet person and was always there to help or buy you a cup of coffee and lend an ear. Mike will be sorely missed by those of us lucky enough to be among his circle of family and friends. Mike joined Intel in 1993 and worked in the factory board manufacturing line as a technician. When the DuPont, WA campus opened in 1996, Mike transitioned to the site and worked in the lab in DuPont, performing platform and OS validation. In 2000, Mike joined the SSG Enabling Programs and Services team in DuPont as a Platform Support Engineer, supporting pre-production hardware and software, including Itanium, Desktop and Ultrabook. He provided valuable feedback to product teams to help support many product launches over the years. Mike left the EPS organization in 2004 for a two-year stint as a TME in the Infrastructure Product Division (Embedded) in Chandler, Arizona before realizing that DuPont was home and returning to the great Northwest. As the senior Platform Support Engineer in the EPS organization, Mike was always a quick study and usually could have a solution in place before it was needed. He was a master of technology and was a supportive peer and friend, acting as a lead and mentor for many on the team. On one occasion, Mike travelled to HP Colorado to help save a working relationship, tactfully resolving a firmware problem that had evaded other Intel and HP engineers. Mike was able to display a working solution, even though other engineers told him it would not work. Mike always had confidence in what he was doing and it showed every day in his work. Mike held a black belt in Karate, which he claimed he earned to survive, being the only boy with many sisters! Mike loved making beer and wine, boating with family, camping and scouting with his boys, and countless hours gaming. Mike spent most of his time making great drinks, finding exquisite restaurants, barbequing, and attending Sounders and other sporting events with Jennifer. Mike is survived by his wife, Jennifer A. Smit; sons, Michael J. Smit and Walter “Nick” Smit; his parents; and sisters, Terrie (Larry) Speaker, Sheila (Mike) McCormick, Kate (Scott) Dillon, and Connie (Kevin) Cooley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Educational Memorial Trust Fund for the Children of Walter Smit at any Chase Bank. Memories and photos are encouraged to be shared at the Walter Michael Smit memorial page on Facebook. Please leave memories of Mike or condolences for his family in the Guestbook below.
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Celebration of Life: 

2:00 p.m. at Church of Living Water, 1615 Chambers St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501 Inurnment: 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 23, 2014 at Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, WA, with military honors
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