PHOENIX — One of the four people killed when two news helicopters crashed over Phoenix was remembered Thursday as a man passionate about his work and about helping others.
Craig Smith, who dedicated himself to learning how to fly after a hospital pilot showed him his chopper in the 1980s, died last week when his aircraft collided with another as they covered a police chase.
"The man did a public service, and he did a lot of important things covering the police and we're here to honor him," said Dave Thomas, a reserve Phoenix police officer who attended the funeral.
"He was not obsessed with personal glory but instead strove to work synergistically with his colleagues and to do the right things," said his friend Curtis Dickman, who played in a band with Smith. "Craig gave the world many gifts with his talents."
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Along with bouquets of red and white flowers at the funeral was a photo of Smith, 47, holding his beloved West Highland white terrier, Molly. She is well known to KNXV-TV viewers because she was often on his lap, with her own custom-made headphones, when he took to the sky to monitor local traffic.
Molly was waiting for her master in an airport hangar July 27 when Smith's helicopter crashed with a KTVK-TV helicopter over a central Phoenix park. On Thursday, she was at his funeral, just like any other family member.
"She's been moping around, not eating, acting depressed," said Smith's father, Blaine Smith. "She knows something is wrong."
Smith started his flying career in Michigan, bringing donated organs and transplant teams to needy patients and flying corporate clients.
He also worked on custom cars and played the guitar and trumpet in a local band called Crosstown Traffic.
He wanted to be in the group because of its mission to raise money for good causes, said bandmate Kim Christensen.
"He was an incredibly multitalented musician," Christensen said.
For nine years, Smith flew a news chopper for WXYZ-TV in Detroit, where his brother Bryan served as his cameraman. He transferred to KNXV in 2005.
At the end of the service Thursday, the 600 mourners walked outside La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church to pat Molly and watch as family members released doves in Smith's memory.
A service for Smith's photographer, Rick Krolak, 55, is scheduled for Saturday.
Memorials for the other two journalists who died, 42-year-old KTVK pilot Scott Bowerbank and photographer Jim Cox, 37, were held Tuesday.
