Former county health official Schmutz dies

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 9:55 a.m.

In the 1960s, then-Clark County Health District inspector Clare Schmutz noticed a lot of old and outdated equipment being installed in Las Vegas restaurants.

"Some of the ovens were so old they could not maintain proper temperatures," said county Environmental Health Supervisor Mary Hahn, noting Schmutz often shared stories of the old days during the 13 years she worked for him. "Clare brought about significant changes. He was relentless in his dedication."

Schmutz, working closely with then-Chief Health Officer Dr. Donald Ravenholt, eventually got strict National Sanitation Foundation standards written into local ordinances, which outlawed not only outdated commercial equipment but also the use of household appliances in local restaurants, Hahn said.

Clare Schmutz, who as director of environmental health from 1993 to 2003 oversaw the development of the Apex landfill and addressed local bio-terrorism issues in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, died Thursday of pancreatic cancer at Nathan Adelson Hospice. He was 74.

Services for Schmutz, who worked for the Health District for 43 years -- the longest anyone has worked there, will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Bunker's Mortuary. Visitation will be Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the mortuary on Las Vegas Boulevard. Interment will be at Memory Gardens on Lone Mountain Road.

"Clare was a legend," Chief Health Officer Donald Kwalick said. "He really started things moving in environmental health here over 40 years ago -- always with the concern of protecting the public's safety and health."

For Schmutz, retirement did not mean slowing down. In 2003, he started CAS Consulting, serving as a health consultant to the Nevada Restaurant Association, and he served on National Sanitation Foundation committees.

Hahn said Schmutz often applied common sense to bring about sweeping restaurant sanitation changes -- among them, the mandatory installation of small sinks in kitchens for employees to wash their hands.

"Today things are more refined (with) better equipment, but what we've always known is that most health problems are related to dirty hands," Schmutz told the Sun for a story in the Jan. 17, 2003, editions. "I just thought it (health conditions) would be much better if they had hand sinks in kitchens."

During the anthrax scare in the wake of the terrorist attacks, Schmutz oversaw the collection of more than 100 samples of powdery substances that were tested in Nevada laboratories.

During Schmutz's tenure, the district also instituted food handler courses and Schmutz helped develop permitting procedures for septic tank installation.

Schmutz's efforts won him numerous honors, including the 2002 Nevada Board of Registration of Environmental Health Specialists' Distinguished Service Award and the 1998 Samuel J. Crumbine National Award for food protection.

Schmutz also was the recipient of the 1995 Nevada Public Health Association Outstanding Professional in Environmental Health Award and the 1989 National Sanitation Foundation International Environmental Leadership Award.

Born July 18, 1930, in St. George, Utah, Schmutz graduated from Utah State University in 1959 with a bachelor of science degree in sanitary science.

He served in the Navy during the Korean War and worked two years as a sanitarian for the Logan City Health Department before moving to Las Vegas in 1960 to work for a health department that at the time had just 13 employees.

In 1963 Schmutz was promoted to sanitarian supervisor and in 1966 he became a chief supervisor. In 1992 Schmutz became environmental health manager and a year later he was promoted to director of environmental health services.

Schmutz has served on the National Sanitation Foundation Council of Public Health Consultants and was past president of the Nevada Environmental Health Association.

At the time of his death, Schmutz was a member of the Underwriters Laboratory Council of Public Health and Environmental Consultants.

He is survived by his wife Georgia Schmutz of Las Vegas; a son, Billy Schmutz of Las Vegas; two brothers, William Schmutz of Kanab, Utah, and Richard Schmutz of St. George; and a sister Janice Nisson of St. George.

He was preceded in death by brothers Donald and David Schmutz.