Longtime Elgin school supporter dies
The cheering section at the boys basketball finals in Peoria just got a little quieter.
Richard E. Smith, a lifelong Elgin resident who only missed two downstate tournaments in more than 50 years, died this week from complications stemming from a recent fall.
Smith, who was 82, boasted that he only missed two championships since he started making his annual trek to central Illinois in 1954. Both of the absences were the result of health issues.
His love of high school basketball (he would keep reams of statistics on current and former players) was matched only by his devotion to his family and public service.
Smith, known to his friends and family as "Dick," served first on Elgin Area School District U-46's Citizens Advisory Council, then on the U-46 school board in the 1960s and '70s.
His daughter Barb Smith remembers her high school physics teacher gently teasing her about her father's position. The teacher and Barb's father were on opposite sides of the bargaining table during a round of contract negotiations.
Later, when Barb graduated from Larkin High School, her father was up on stage as a representative of the school board and handed Barb her diploma.
"It was a pretty unique moment," said Barb, who now lives in Lake Mills, Wis. "I don't think there's too many kids who get that experience."
Smith was himself a product of Elgin schools. He played basketball at Elgin High School in the 1940s before marrying his high school sweetheart, Marilyn Mann, in 1948. They would remain together until Smith's passing 62 years later.
Smith's service was not limited to public schools. He also served as president of the Elgin chapter of the American Red Cross and was a member of the Elgin Historical Society, Elgin Kiwanis Club and the board of directors for the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame, according to his family.
Smith's family remembers him for his passion for photography and the humorous poems he composed for family weddings and graduations.
"He's got an unbelievable sense of humor," son Steve Smith said. "He seems to bring warmth and comfort to everyone he's around."
Smith is survived by his wife, Marilyn Mann Smith; his children, Barb, Steve, Chuck and Sue; grandchildren Adam, Evan and Maggie Baker, Kelsey Swanson, Jeff, Scott, Ryan, Alison and Jordan Smith; and great-granddaughter, Katelyn Smith.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church, 216 E. Highland Ave., Elgin. Burial will be at Dundee Township Cemetery East in East Dundee. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Laird Funeral Home, Elgin, and at the church starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame Foundation Scholarship Fund or the First United Methodist Church.