Obituary: Saul Charles Smiley designed hospitals across Minnesota

From Hennepin County Medical Center to the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, the buildings Saul Charles Smiley helped create dot Minnesota.

Lisa Smiley-Greenblat recently scanned records of her father's decades of work as an architect, including the expansion of Bloomington's iconic Thunderbird Motel. She kept finding surprises among the long list of hospitals and clinics, nursing homes, fire stations, libraries and schools.

"Some of this I was shocked, because I had no idea," she said.

Smiley died July 18, at age 98. But many of the buildings his firm designed live on.

Smiley was a Minneapolis native who studied architecture at the University of Minnesota, where he met his wife, Maxine.

After graduation, his career was sidelined by World War II. He joined the Navy and fought in the Pacific, where he commanded a ship that was part of the occupation of Okinawa, Japan.

A few years ago, his nephew, Bruce Smiley, stopped by Saul's home for a visit. Bruce was reading a book on World War II, and when he mentioned it, Saul started to tell him stories. He recalled coming into the Tokyo Bay. The war was over, they had won, and an order went out to all the ships: pull down the tattered American flags and raise new ones. Hundreds of boats, scarred by war, were pulling into the bay, Saul told Bruce.

When he returned to Minnesota, Smiley started work as a draftsman and eventually created his own architecture firm, which specialized in health care centers. Smiley liked to focus on the people who would end up working in the buildings, Smiley-Greenblat said, and incorporated their needs and wants into the design.

"He used to say the nurses know more than anyone," she said.

Joel Glotter, one of Smiley's partners, said Smiley excelled at managing the business side of the firm.

"He was good with understanding the business of people, how they would approach it and how they would feel," Glotter said.

Smiley became president of the Minnesota chapter of the American Institute of Architects and was named a fellow of that organization. He also served on several Minneapolis civic committees.

While Smiley was easygoing and liked to laugh, he was also meticulously organized, family members said.

Two years ago, Galvan and Bruce Smiley met with Saul Smiley to discuss his estate. He handed them each an agenda with 20 items listed, plus backup material.

"I was like, are you kidding me? You're 96 years old," Bruce said.

"Well, I just want to be organized," Saul replied.

He was also a sports fan who loved golf, the Minnesota Twins and Vikings — passions he shared with his nephew. But, in recent years, both Bruce and Saul lived in California. So when Bruce saw the live online video of the Vikings stadium being constructed, he called Saul to let him know.