Former City of Kissimmee Attorney Don Smallwood, who served the town he grew up in for over three decades in that role, passed away Thursday at the age of 68, the city has reported.
He is remembered at City Hall as a man who tirelessly defended both the city and its residents, and served as a mentor for so many city administrators.
Visitation will be Tuesday at Conrad & Thompson Funeral Home from 5-7 p.m., with a funeral to follow Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Cornerstone Church in St. Cloud, and burial at Rose Hill Cemetery.
As a lifer in Kissimmee — he graduated from Osceola High in 1971 and UCF, then Florida Technical University in 1977 with an undergrad degree and remained a pillar of the community — he was seen as an “oracle” of institutional knowledge about Kissimmee and what made it great.
He predated most city officials, like current City Manager Mike Steigerwald, and his predecessor Mark Durbin.
He earned his law degree at the Samford University in Alabama — the only time he left Kissimmee after arriving.
He had worked part-time for the city in the 1980s while working in private practice, which he gave up when the city hired him full time in 1996 because the city had grown to the point of needing a full-time attorney.
When hired, he reportedly told city commissioners, “You won’t regret me being your city attorney. I won’t embarrass you, and I’m harder on myself than you could ever be.”
Steigerwald said he benefitted from both Smallwood’s management and legal advice.
“What was cool and unique to that position was, Don was like a member of the management team, not just the attorney in the corner office,” he said. “He was a great resource. When he retired, I missed his knowledge. He’d pop in my office and talk about management stuff, and I never took offense to that. He cared about how the city ran.”
He was recognized as a leader in municipal law around the state and was nominated as President of the Florida Municipal Attorney Association and named City Attorney of the Year in 2017. He retired in October 2019, just ahead of the pandemic.
In his time as City Attorney, he reportedly drafted 1,466 city ordinances — with a unique way of reading them into record at City Commission meetings, much like a carnival barker.
“It’s part of law they have to be read,” Steigerwald said. “But he worked for mayors like Jim Swan, Bob Makinson, Frank Atkisson, who wanted to keep things moving. When you heard that for the first time you’d wonder what was going on, but we all got used to it.”
While being all-business at work, he loved to have a good time beyond the office, listening to ‘70s rock music and riding his Harley-Davidson. He was an unabashed football fan of the Osceola Kowboys, Florida State Seminoles and West Virginia Mountaineers.
Donald Thomas Smallwood was born in Dehue, W.V., on Oct. 13, 1953. Don’s parents, Roy and Joan, moved to Kissimmee in 1960 to give the family a life outside the coal mines. It was here he met his first wife, Cheryl Kemp Smallwood, who died of skin cancer in 1985, mere months after her diagnosis. That left him as a single parent to three young children. He married Cinda Longbrake in 1987, celebrating 34 years with her in 2021.
He is survived by Cinda and children Chad, Courtney, Christen, Ciara and Cyle, as well as sister Susan (Wild) and 14 grandchildren.
The family asks those who wish to make monetary gifts in Don's honor to donate to The Michael J. Fox Foundation as Don was passionate about finding a cure for Parkinson's Disease, which he suffered from but managed in his later years.
