Templeton Smith spent his career as an environmental lawyer -- one of the first in the field back in the 1950s.

Though he was a pioneer of sorts in that area of practice, Mr. Smith was an all-around Renaissance man. He built his own furniture, grew and cared for 25 acres of trees in the country, practiced photography, sailed, wrote poetry and taught an adult Bible class.

He died Friday of pneumonia at Asbury Heights in Mt. Lebanon. He was 87.

Mr. Smith received degrees from Harvard University, Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.

After volunteering with the Navy during World War II, Mr. Smith began his own law practice. He joined the law department of Koppers Co. Inc. in 1949 as a labor attorney, but very quickly switched his focus to the environment.

"He had a realization that things ought to be cleaned up," said his son, Templeton Smith Jr., of Mt. Lebanon.

Koppers, the maker of coke ovens, had a number of subsidiaries, which included treated lumber companies and creosote plants.

Mr. Smith always told his clients that they should clean up their work sites before they were cited, his son said.

Throughout his career, Koppers allowed him to travel to exotic places, including stays at the palace of the emperor of Japan, his son said.

His company would buy him first-class plane tickets, but Mr. Smith would trade them in for two tickets in the coach section so his wife, Nellie, could join him.

He and Nellie were married for 59 years.

"He was always a very analytical thinker," his son said. But his father was modest, too, never bragging about his talents.

"Trees were one of his big passions," his son said.

His father planted them in patterns. He knew which species were indigenous to which communities.

Though he built his own furniture, Mr. Smith never used his own trees for wood. Instead he would carefully pick mahogany and other woods, and perform much of his work by hand, using chisels.

Mr. Smith also collected rare 18th-century books, including works by James Boswell and Samuel Johnson.

Besides his many hobbies, Mr. Smith served on the Mt. Lebanon school board from 1995 to 1998, as well as on the zoning hearing board.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Smith is survived by a daughter, Eliza Smith Brown of Squirrel Hill, and five grandchildren.

Visitation will be today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Laughlin Memorial Chapel, 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon. A memorial service will be held at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 799 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, at 4 p.m. Saturday. Interment will be private.

Contributions may be made to the church.

First Published: June 18, 2007, 2:30 a.m.