SMALLEY: Isaac Mulford "Ike" Smalley, 94, of Deming, a former state senator, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 4, at his home. Visitation will be held Monday from 3-7 p.m. at Baca's Funeral Chapels in Deming. The funeral service will be held Tuesday at 11 in the morning at the First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Carl Zimmerman, pastor, officiating. Concluding services and interment will follow at Mountain View Cemetery with services at the graveside conducted by Deming Masonic Lodge No. 12. Mr. Smalley was born Sept. 10, 1904, in Bridgeton, N.J. He joined the Merchant Marine at the age of 14 and later enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance, graduating in 1929. He graduated from Southern Methodist Law School in 1941. Mr. Smalley first served as mayor of Deming in 1946 and began his statewide career in 1947. He served six years in the House of Representatives, and in 1957 he was elected to the state Senate, where he served for 32 years. His time in the Legislature overlapped 12 governors, during which time he chaired the three most powerful committees, Judiciary, Finance and the Committee of Committees. He practiced law for 55 years in Deming and pursued a lifelong interest in prospecting and mining. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and Deming Masonic Lodge No. 12. His family includes his daughter, Cita Suratgar, and her husband, David Suratgar, of London, England, and his grandsons, Caleb and Quentin Ward. He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Wandra Pollard Smalley, on April 17, 1990. Serving as pallbearers will be members of The Deming Masonic Lodge #12. contributions can be made to the Membres Valley hospice. Entrusted to Baca's.


SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 23 44TH LEGISLATURE -
STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999
INTRODUCED BY John Arthur Smith

A JOINT MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING THE CONDOLENCES OF THE LEGISLATURE UPON THE DEATH OF SENATOR I.M. "IKE" SMALLEY.

WHEREAS, I.M. "Ike" Smalley, the cigar-chomping senator from Deming, was a fixture in New Mexico state politics for almost four decades, beginning January 14, 1947 when he began representing district 21 in the house of representatives, which he did through 1952; and

WHEREAS, he became Senator Ike Smalley on January 8, 1957 and remained in the senate for thirty-two years; and

WHEREAS, at his death, Senator Ike Smalley held the record as the longest serving legislator and longest serving president pro tempore in New Mexico history; and

WHEREAS, "the Bear" was a conservative democrat who won praise from democrats and republicans alike; and

WHEREAS, Senator Smalley's legislative service to New Mexico spanned the terms of twelve governors, not counting himself when he was governor for one day in 1984 when the line of succession fell to him; and

WHEREAS, of his many accomplishments in the legislature, Senator Smalley was proudest of his work to pass the modern legal codes, including the Criminal Code, the Eminent Domain Code and the Probate Code, and to ensure funding for the state's museums; and

WHEREAS, Senator Smalley's life typified the rugged individualism and adventurism of the west, even though he was a New Jersey-born descendant of English settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts; and

WHEREAS, he ran away from home at the age of fourteen to join the merchant marine, he prospected for gold in Mexico and Honduras and, even in his nineties, Ike was still off-roading in a four-wheel drive Jeep; and

WHEREAS, while working in India for a rubber company, Senator Smalley met his wife, Wandra Pollard Smalley, and moved with her to New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, they were married for fifty-five years and had a daughter, Cita; and

WHEREAS, he was graduated from the university of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton school of finance, received his LLB degree from Southern Methodist university law school and practiced law in Deming for fifty-five years; and

WHEREAS, Issac Mulford Smalley died at the age of ninety-four on Wednesday, November 4, 1998 at his home, with his daughter Cita by his side;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that its heartfelt condolences be offered on the passage of the Great Bear, Senator I.M. "Ike" Smalley; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to Cita Smalley Suratgar and her family of London, England.