Tom Smigel: 1945-2006

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.

Tom Smigel was a longtime scientist at the Nevada Agriculture Department, where he was regarded as the state's leading authority on creepy, crawly things and the diseases they could carry.

An entomologist, Smigel played a major role in educating Nevadans on the dangers posed by insects, and he calmed fears by debunking myths and misconceptions about them.

He is best remembered for tracking and trapping the first of the so-called killer bees in Southern Nevada in the late 1990s.

Thomas Edward Smigel, who also tracked the arrival of the roof rat in Las Vegas on fruit tree transports in the mid-1990s and was part of a team of state and local scientists that trapped mosquitoes to determine whether they carried the potentially deadly West Nile virus, died Dec. 13. He was 61.

A graveside service for the Las Vegas resident of 34 years was private at the Boulder City Municipal Cemetery. Arrangements were handled by Davis Funeral Home.

Perhaps no creature's pending arrival in Southern Nevada was more closely monitored - or feared - than that of the hybrid Africanized honey bee, nicknamed the killer bee because of its hyperdefensive behavior.

In spring 1998 Smigel confirmed that the first swarms had reached Searchlight and Laughlin. By August, an aggressive swarm was discovered at the Clark County Government Center in the heart of Las Vegas.

"The bees are here, and we have to deal with them," Smigel told the Sun in an August 1998 story, not only announcing their arrival but also offering suggestions on how people could defend themselves from swarms.

Smigel's tips included dousing the bees with soapy water to smother them - primarily at night when they did not fly - and simply fleeing from them, noting "a normal person can outrun an Africanized swarm."

In September 2000, when roof rats were found in the upscale Spanish Trail residential subdivision, Smigel assured the public that the rodents posed no immediate health threat and that they had tested negative for diseases such as the plague.

In January 2003 Smigel assisted federal and local officials in investigating, quarantining and destroying poultry and other local birds that had been exposed to the highly infectious Exotic Newcastle Disease. The quick response was credited with preventing a major outbreak.

Smigel was born Nov. 28, 1945, in Johnstown, Pa. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Penn State University and a master's degree in biology from Bucknell University.

His career included a stint as a microbiologist for the Southern Nevada Health District and as a customs inspector for the Environmental Protection Agency. During his lengthy tenure with the state Agriculture Department, Smigel was promoted to regional manager.

In his off time, Smigel collected antique Fords and American coins and was an avid sport fisherman.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Smigel; and sons, Jacob Smigel and Jesse Smigel.