Debbie Smith, center, chief clerk of the House Agriculture Committee, received a portrait of herself at her retirement party last Tuesday. At left is Mario Castillo, who was chief of staff to committee Chairman E. Kika de al Garza, D-Texas, when Smith was hired as a staff assistant in 1983. At right is Laura Phelps, a friend who works for the McLeod, Watkinson and Miller law firm. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

Every year there are retirement parties for staff at the House Agriculture Committee, but there may never have been a retirement party as grand as the one held last Tuesday for Debbie Smith, the chief clerk of the committee who retires today after working on the committee for more than 31 years.

Smith’s retirement party included not only a reception but the unveiling of her portrait, just as it’s done for former chairmen, and the publication of a booklet entitled “The Legendary Debbie Smith: A Vital Member of the Staff of the Committee on Agriculture February 1,1983-July 1, 2014.”

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and two former chairmen — Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., who is now ranking member, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who is now House Judiciary Committee chairman — all spoke before the portrait was unveiled in the presence of Smith’s family.

The painting was done by Dwight Owen Kalb, a Chicago and Key West, Fla., artist whose work Smith first saw at a Venice, Fla., art festival. Smith will hang the painting at home, but will present a copy of it to the committee.

The event also attracted many former committee staffers who are now prominent lobbyists, including Mario Castillo, who hired Smith when he was the chief of staff to then-House Agriculture Committee Chairman Kika de la Garza, D-Texas, in 1983, and former clerks, including Wanda Worsham and Callista Bisek Gingrich.

Lucas noted that Smith has worked for seven chairmen: de la Garza; Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; Bob Smith, R-Ore.; Larry Combest, R-Texas; Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; Collin Peterson, D-Minn; and himself.

“Debbie has always understood that the person who holds her position is an institutional repository of knowledge of the United States House of Representatives that is every bit as important to the place and the process as the volumes of books she has assembled over the years,” Lucas said, “documenting every activity of the committee, as well as the activities of other committees and the House when either exercised the poor judgment to step on our committee’s turf while Debbie was on watch.”

He also noted that her roles went beyond her formal duties.

In an interview today, Smith noted that she was hired by the Democrats but has always considered her job nonpartisan. Her first ancestor came from England, she said, but became “a turncoat” favoring the United States.

“It’s in the blood,” Smith said laughing and added she wishes there were more bipartisanship on Capitol Hill today.

Smith came to work on Capitol Hill when she was 19, and started working for the Agriculture committee at 22.

“People took me under their wings,” Smith said, adding that she has also tried to pass on the knowledge about the committee that is “not in the text books” to the next generation of staff. She recalled that young aides today have no knowledge that before the Internet the staff used to gather together to stuff press releases into envelopes and mail them out.

Smith credited her husband, Harry, for putting dinner on the table so that she was able to work the long hours required by the committee. Smith said she wants to travel, spend time with her three daughters and their families, and has told her husband, “It’s time I put dinner on the table for you.”