• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 30, 2019

Greg Smith, the longtime Chief Creative Officer at Portland, Maine-based The Via Agency died April 20. He was 52.

An article in the Portland Press Herald published two days ago reported that Smith took his own life after battling addiction and mental illness. Smith’s wife Emily confirmed the cause of death to the newspaper.

“I put it out there because it’s important that people talk about it,” Emily Smith told the PressHerald. “He so knew how to help others, but he could never figure out how to help himself.”

Smith was CCO at the agency for 20 years and is credited with helping it become a force in the industry, applying his creative skills to accounts such as Welch’s, Klondike, Unilever, Samsung and L.L. Bean.

Earlier, he was new business director at Vreeland Advertising and founder-creative director at Front Porch Productions.

Via Agency CEO Leeann Leahy told the Press Herald : “Greg was dynamic and exciting and passionate and inspiring, and just raw energy and creativity … He was never just selling chickens, he was feeding families. He was never just selling clothes, he was getting people outdoors. He was never just selling ice cream, he was bringing lightheartedness into the world.

"There was always a higher order to the work he did.”