I was sorry to learn of David R. "Dave" Smith's passing last March
15th, 2020.  Dave kept a restoration shop in Bainbridge, New York,
with his brother, Tom, when I first met him about twenty-five years
ago.  They restored reed organs, player pianos, and vintage lamps.
Dave had quite an impressive display of mechanical music, rare reed
organs and other memorabilia at his "Outback Antiques" shop behind
their riverfront home.

Alas, Dave paid his tribute to the river as a flood several years back
took away much of his collection.  Depressed but undaunted, Dave and
Tom cleaned up and re-started their restoration shop.

David R. Smith was born in 1954 and lived his entire life in the quaint
town of Bainbridge.  He befriended Art Sanders at his musical museum in
Deansboro, New York, and applied his mechanical skills to things that
interest us in the MMD.  You would never know it until you met him, but
Dave used a wheelchair for thirty-six years.  This hardly seemed to be
a handicap, as he drove a van, bought and sold pianos, organs, and
music boxes, and whizzed around his property followed by two huge dogs!

This visitor was unfailingly rewarded for the longish trip by enjoying
a witty and informative repartee with Dave.  His interesting obituary
can be found here: https://landersfh.com/tribute/details/1627/David-Smith/obituary.html

Philip Jamison