Tim Smith, who bought the advertising and design firm Skidmore Studio and kept its doors open during the recession by moving it to downtown Detroit in 2011, has died, the company's president said. He was 54.

Smith, who also was the firm's CEO, died Tuesday night from "a cardiac arrest incident," Skidmore President Drew Patrick said.

"It's a shock to all of us," Patrick said Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to running the boutique design firm, Smith in 2016 published the book Dare Mighty Things: A Field Guide for Millennial Entrepreneurs. His agency in recent years specialized in marketing to the millennial generation.

Smith bought the agency outright from Mae Skidmore, daughter of late owner and founder Leo Skidmore, in 2009.

He had been hired to oversee the agency's client diversification in 2001, then acquired a 10 percent equity stake in 2005 and became president in 2007.

Smith moved the firm in 2011 from a loft space in Royal Oak to nearly 10,000 square feet on the entire fourth floor of the Dan Gilbert-owned Madison Building at 1555 Broadway St. — from which Smith's corner office overlooked nearby Comerica Park.

When Skidmore opened downtown as a design agency in 1959 inside the Fisher Building, it primarily worked with the large ad houses to provide images of cars and trucks. It moved to Troy in 1977, and later to Royal Oak.

Under Smith, Skidmore's business model shifted to working directly for clients, a change in strategy that kept the agency afloat when the recession was claiming small ad firms.

"It was the direct work that allowed us to keep the doors open," Smith said in a 2014 interview with Crain's.

Among Skidmore's clients in recent years were Dave & Buster's, Halo Burger, the Detroit Tigers, Expedia, Regal Cinemas, DTE Energy, Quicken Loans/Rock Ventures, Weingartz, Chrysler, The Sam Bernstein Law Firm, Crain Communications Inc., Level One Bank, Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit Jazz Festival and TechTown. It has done pro bono work for Detroit Public Schools.

On the agency side, Skidmore has done work for Doner, Campbell Ewald, Team Detroit, The Mars Agency, McCann and Leo Burnett.

The full-service creative agency does graphics, storyboard animation, interactive, website design, copy writing, branding and marketing. It added television production capabilities for Dave & Buster's TV commercials.

Smith was praised by his peers in the advertising and marketing industry.

Don Tanner, co-owner of Farmington Hills-based communications firm Tanner Friedman, said Smith designed his agency's first logo and website.

"I have never met a more humble yet competent, caring person. A consummate family man, husband and father. A visionary leader and businessman and a dear, dear friend for more than 20 years. I am without words. Devastating. A terrible loss," he said.

Marcie Brogan, staple of the region's creative community as founder of Birmingham-based Brogan & Partners Convergence Marketing Agency, admired how Smith adapted to the industry's changes.

"Skidmore has been a synonym for creativity for decades," she said. "I most admire its resiliency: When computer graphics and design challenged traditional automotive-oriented studios, Skidmore successfully reinvented itself under Tim Smith's leadership. His decision to move the company back to its origins — the city of Detroit — was another sign of his inventive spirit."

Peter Van Dyke, CEO of Van Dyke Horn Public Relations, credits Smith for his assistance in buying Detroit-based Berg Muirhead and Associates in 2016.

"At some of the most challenging times in the acquisition negotiation process, he was an incredible mentor, counseling me on strategies and best practices that helped him successfully acquire Skidmore and position the company for success," Van Dyke said in an email to Crain's.

"We only met a couple of times, but I have great respect for what he built," said Toby Barlow, chief creative officer of Dearborn-based GTB, Ford's dedicated ad agency.

Smith, a New Baltimore native, was hired at Skidmore in 2001. Before that, he'd led the marketing and advertising departments at Grant Thornton, Plante & Moran, and Village Green Cos., according to his official biography.

He served on the Detroit Creative Corridor Center's advisory board as well as the boards of the Detroit Regional Chamber and educational nonprofits Reading Works and Winning Futures.

Smith was a 2014 inductee into the Journalism Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Central Michigan University. He began his career as a journalist with a story published in the Anchor Bay Beacon at age 15. He was later editor of the Plymouth-Canton Community Crier newspaper.

He graduated from Anchor Bay High School in 1981 and CMU in 1986.

Skidmore's Patrick, who declined to discuss any agency succession planning, reminisced about his boss. He said he's known Smith for 13 years and worked for him at the firm for the past 8 1/2, including the past 12 months as president. He spoke of Smith's larger-than-life personality, noting his boss' love of the Detroit Tigers, Disney, bourbon, coney dogs, the musician Prince and Detroit.

"He always was doing Bill Murray quotes," he said, chuckling. "He wore a Disney shirt."

Patrick also admired Smith's fearless life and business philosophy, which fueled the pink-hued book about millennials, a colorful nod to Smith owning a bold pink bicycle in his youth.

"He's the guy who was gonna do it his way, right or wrong, successful or not. That was an endearing quality he had. He's like a brother to me," Patrick said.

Smith was a father figure and mentor to 15 staffers at Skidmore, he added.

"We feel like we lost a family member and Detroit lost a champion of the city, and the industry lost an advocate for doing things in an extraordinary way. It's a tragedy," Patrick said.

Smith is survived by his wife Colleen; sons Hayden and Harrison; sisters Kim Jeroue and Terri Dedischew, and parents Jean and Bob Smith.

Visitation is scheduled for 3-8 p.m. Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday at Kaul Funeral Home in Clinton Township.

The funeral service will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.