MANSFIELD, Ohio – The Mansfield City Schools community mourns the loss of one of their own with the passing of longtime educator Lowell Smith, who died at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus on Jan. 22 after a short illness.
The news came as a shock to Mansfield Superintendent Brian Garverick, as well as many other members of the district.
“Lowell was a treasure in our community,” said Garverick. “He was a consummate public servant to everyone who knew him. He was a champion for young people and teachers and our school community. He will be sorely missed.”
Lowell Smith spent 35 years in the Mansfield City School District as a teacher, executive director of personnel, and later board of education member.
Smith first earned his teaching job, after nineteen other interviews, the summer after he graduated from Wilmington University in 1959. He began his career as a social studies teacher while also coaching track and field, and assisting in coaching football.
Smith moved to Malabar High School when the building opened in 1963, serving as chair of the social studies and humanities programs. When he left the classroom in 1971 to begin an 18-year tenure as the district’s executive director of personnel, Smith was still a fierce supporter of young students and educators.
“He was a person that would support young teachers,” said Garverick. “When he committed to a project or an initiative, or his platform in terms of student achievement, he never wavered from his commitment to those initiatives.”
Smith helped advocate and support five significant programs to help students: The Literacy Collaborative; Algebra Project; Learning Center at Springmill; Spanish Immersion; and Engineering Program. These programs assisted students in literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, and Spanish.
Smith also had a career with Ashland University. There, he helped develop the “Grow Your Own” program which educated students as to how they could become teachers in the area. The program connected students to other colleges like Mount Vernon Nazarene University, The Ohio State University, and North Central State College.
When he retired from Ashland in 2006, Smith joined the Community Coalition, where he served for almost four years. The group was formed to aid Mansfield’s school district. In November of 2009 Smith was elected to Mansfield’s Board of Education, where he served until his retirement at age 75 on Dec. 17, 2013.
“The thing about Lowell is he had what we like to call institutional memory,” said Garverick. “That’s important in terms of where we were, where we are now and where we want to go. When you have someone like that to provide that insight, he will be sorely missed.
“He was a friend to all of us, and had the best interest of the city,” Garverick added.
Funeral arrangements will be announced for the Finefrock Chapel of the Marion Avenue Snyder Funeral Home.
