William Farr Smith-Vaniz

William (“Bill” or “Billy”) Farr Smith-Vaniz (83) of Gainesville, Fl, passed away peacefully surrounded by his adoring family at home on March 12, 2025.

Born in Wilmington, North Carolina on October 18, 1941 as the oldest child of Julius T. and Janet Smith-Vaniz, Billy loved nature and the outdoors. He was famous for climbing out of his window during naptime, as young as two years old, to play outside. He faced regular scoldings for failing to come home when the church bells rang, too busy catching frogs in the bayou around his home in Cleveland, Mississippi to bother with being on time for supper. He always credited his mother, a college trained teacher, for ensuring that he didn’t “play hookie” all the time and graduated from high school. He fondly remembered trips hunting and fishing with his own Daddy growing up, where he spent as much time observing the plants and smaller animals as he did hunting game.

He attended college in his hometown at Delta State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. He then went on to Auburn University, where he graduated with a master’s degree in Fisheries Biology. His master’s thesis, Freshwater Fishes of Alabama, was considered the foundational research for the area. After working as a museum technician at the Smithsonian Institution for two years, he went on to The University of Miami where he was awarded his Ph.D. in Marine Sciences and launched his rewarding career as an Ichthyologist. He was a curator at the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia for 19 years and then worked as a research scientist for the then named National Biological Survey in Gainesville, Florida. He was a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Florida and served as a consultant to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, as the world expert on carangids, popular and commercially important sport fish known colloquially as Jacks. His scientific contributions were unparalleled. He published descriptions of over 130 new species across nearly a dozen families, authoring countless scientific papers and two books. His work on saber-toothed or fang blennies, the subject of his dissertation, shed light on their extraordinary adaptations and ecological roles. He was an avid scuba diver, and his work included diving expeditions to exotic locations around the globe. He conducted research and collected specimens in Costa Rica, the Philippines, Gabon, Qatar, Iran, Ghana, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Israel, Cuba, Belize, Kenya, India, Japan, Colombia, South Africa, the Cayman Islands, Bahrain, Fiji, Oman, Cocos Keeling, Jordan, Singapore, Tanzania and major world capitals including London, Paris, and Rome. A highlight from his adventures includes having his photographs of undescribed fish specimens being featured on the inaugural postage stamps for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. He was the recipient of the prestigious Robert H Gibbs Jr Memorial Award presented by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (2011) for “an outstanding body of published work in systematic ichthyology.” His publication list continued to grow despite “retiring” in 2007 and he was busy working on papers until a week before he died.

While working in Miami, he met the love of his life, his wife Esther. An exacting scientist always, he knew that he had found his perfect partner. Their two daughters, Rachel and Sarah, brought him great joy. While Esther worked early mornings, Bill would get the children up for the day, fed, dressed and off to daycare or school. He loved his job as a daddy and would always smile when he saw a baby. He brought Rachel and Sarah on many hunting and fishing adventures as well as misadventures that they remember with laughter. As a grandfather, he got to relive his devotion to young children and would proudly recite their accomplishments to everyone he met.

He had many friends from all over the globe who shared his passion for ichthyology and enjoyed meals around Esther’s table as well as close neighbors in both Pennsylvania and Gainesville who regularly got together for dinner. After moving to the Village in Gainesville in 2022, he met many friends who enriched his life and made his final years some of his best.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Esther Smith-Vaniz; his daughters, Rachel (Matt) McClain and Sarah (Will) Knight; his siblings, George “Buddy” Smith-Vaniz (Julie) and Ann Crigler and many nieces and nephews and his beloved grandchildren, Caroline and Reid McClain and Eleanor and Eliza Knight.

A memorial service will be held on April 12, 2025. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Marcadis Neuro-Rehab Advancement Fund of the University of Florida Foundation (Fund #028193) which was established by Bill and Esther in 2024.