Richard E. Goldsmith changed the face of philanthropy in our community as we know it.

His innovative thinking decades ago led him to create the San Antonio Area Foundation – introducing the community foundation model of charitable giving to the region for the first time.

Goldsmith died last month at 92. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Antonia “Toni” Goldsmith, as well as their two daughters, Ruth and Joan, grandchildren Sai and Nia Barak and numerous nephews and nieces.

“He was always willing to play the long game and believed that eventually the Area Foundation would grow and become a significant resource for the San Antonio region,” Toni Goldsmith said.

Long game, indeed – it would have seemed hard to predict back then how much the organization would grow when Goldsmith started it in 1964. It was essentially what entrepreneurs today call a startup: Richard’s uncle Mannie offered a $100,000 donation over 10 years for Richard to invest back in the community in honor of Richard’s father, Nat Goldsmith, who had died a year earlier.

Now more than six decades in existence, the Area Foundation has turned into a force for philanthropy not just in San Antonio but far beyond.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that Goldsmith chose the philanthropic path, given his father’s established altruistic legacy. Among his many accomplishments, Nat Goldsmith helped start the Community Chest of San Antonio – an organization that eventually became the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.

One would imagine that, given how Goldsmith continued and strengthened the family’s history of giving back to his community, he would’ve made his father proud.

“It has been said, service is the rent we pay for our place on earth. I am convinced now that in paying that so-called rent, we are amply repaid for our service in happiness and pleasant memories that linger for many years,” Nat Goldsmith once said to congregants at San Antonio’s Temple Beth-El.

Legal Mind

Richard Goldsmith was born in Los Angeles, but he grew up in San Antonio. He attended Travis Elementary School and Mark Twain Middle School before graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1951.

He began college at the University of Texas at Austin but later transferred to Harvard College, where he graduated with honors with a degree in history in 1955. He then went on to complete a law degree at Harvard.

His history of service began in the military realm, serving as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force and then remaining in the U.S. Air Forces Reserves as a Captain until 1968.

He returned to San Antonio in 1960 and joined the city’s largest law firm, eventually specializing in tax law and estate planning. He put his strong spirit of volunteerism to work, joining the boards of a plethora of local nonprofits over the years, including the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, the Ella Austin Community Center, Clarity Child Guidance Center, Gemini Inc., the San Antonio Food Bank and the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

A turning point took place in 1963, when he co-founded the Halfway House of San Antonio, better known today as Crosspoint – a nonprofit focused on mental health services. It was that experience that led him the following year to put his uncle’s gift to use by following the nonprofit community foundation model – creating the Area Foundation.

“I didn’t want the money to be exhausted in various charities so I thought of creating an organization that could combine my uncle’s gift with that of others who wanted their gifts to go to charity so they could be preserved,” Goldsmith recalled in an interview in 2021. “I soon learned that was precisely the work of community foundations.”

Quiet Yet Impactful

Those that knew him recall a humble and soft-spoken yet incredibly effective dealmaker and visionary.

Clarence “Reggie” Williams was impressed from the first time he met him. It was 2000 and Williams had just retired as an executive at USAA, and he was invited to interview for the Area Foundation’s top leader position.

“My first impression of Richard was all ‘resume based’ and that was impressive. I respected his work,” Williams recalled. “I grew to have great respect for the outstanding character and integrity of a man who did the work.”

They quickly built a strong professional bond that then grew into friendship. They worked well together – even when they had to agree to disagree. It was at Williams’ recommendation that Richard move from his long-time law firm to join the Area Foundation staff as General Counsel.

It was in that role that Goldsmith connected one of his legal clients to the Area Foundation for charitable giving opportunities. That client was none other than John L. Santikos, the local cinema and real estate mogul, who decided to gift his estate to the Area Foundation.

Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros first met Goldsmith in the 1970s as a rookie on the city council. Even back then – long before the Area Foundation would turn into a philanthropic force to the tune of $954 million invested in the community through grants and scholarships since its founding – Goldsmith was already known for his community service, Cisneros recalled.

Goldsmith served as a mentor for the then-future mayor, explaining to him the inner workings of key institutions and introducing him to senior leaders. Cisneros readily supported the Area Foundation from the moment Goldsmith first told him about it.

“Richard was rare in that he was a dreamer and a doer. He saw problems and knew they cried for solutions,” Cisneros said. “He studied, imagined and designed solutions and then he acted.”

Lasting Legacy

Richard Goldsmith’s list of accolades is lengthy: Among many distinctions, he was recognized by the Texas Bar Association, Life Science Foundation, National Conference of Christians and Jews, the San Antonio Independent School District Foundation and the Texas State Senate. Along with his wife Toni, the couple received the National Humanitarian Award from the National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

Former Area Foundation staff and board members who knew and worked with Goldsmith pointed to his unique legacy.

Tom Hill, a retired four-star U.S. Army General who served as board chair in 2021-2022, first met the Goldsmiths through their mutual interest in Children’s Association for Maximum Potential, a nonprofit that runs a summer camp for children with disabilities which Hill’s daughter attended.

“We quickly developed a deep friendship based on our mutual belief in service to the community,” Hill said. “Very few communities in our nation are blessed with a person like Richard with the vision, generosity and commitment to service of our Richard Goldsmith. San Antonio is better because he walked among us.”

Marie Smith served as Area Foundation board chair in 2015-2016 and oversaw the initiation of the Santikos gift to the organization. Yet she knew Goldsmith for more than a decade prior, as well as Toni, with whom she served on a Community Advisory Committee (volunteer CAC members select nonprofit grant recipients for the Area Foundation).

“I will always remember Richard as man of his word, of his integrity and humility,” Smith said. “The memory of his life will continue to ripple through the people who knew him, the organization he helped, the people he mentored. My life was enriched and blessed by him!”

David Henneesse preceded Smith as board chair, serving in the role in 2013-2014. By then, he had already been involved with the Area Foundation for a decade, first volunteering on the board’s Finance Committee.

“Goodness me – it’s nearly impossible to boil down in a few words as to what I’d say about Richard Goldsmith,” Hennessee said. “He was such a calm, positive force. Gracious with a loving demeanor. He was a dreamer and a builder. He was all about carrying out the wishes of our donors with trust, integrity and confidence.”

Yet Richard’s humility would never allow him to make it about himself.

When asked in 2021 about his legacy, he replied not about how he would like to be remembered personally but rather about hoping that the seed he planted six decades earlier would keep growing in perpetuity.

“My hope is that it continues to be a vibrant organization,” he mused then. “It should continue to grow and remain a major contributor. As far as I see it, there should always be a role for the San Antonio Area Foundation in our community.”

Thanks to you, Richard, our community wouldn’t have it any other way.