Jeff (Thomas Jefferson) Smith

SMITH, THOMAS JEFFERSON
JUNE 12, 1930 - APRIL 20, 2019


Thomas Jefferson Smith, known to friends as Jeff, passed away unexpectedly at home on April 20, 2019; he was 88.

Jeff was born on June 12, 1930 in College Park, Georgia, to Alma (Barry) Smith and Daniel Trammell Smith. When the Great Depression hit, his father lost his job at a wood preserving company and the family worked as sharecroppers in rural Fairburn, Georgia. Five years later, Jeff's father was reemployed with the same company, and the family moved to East Point. In 1941 his parents were able to purchase a 30-acre farm with a $150 dollar loan, and they lived and worked there for the next 40 years.

Jeff excelled in high school and was active in chorus and student council. On his high school yearbook page, his life ambition is named: "to play the viola." Indeed, he played the viola for several decades, first as part of a string quartet and, later, with the Kalamazoo Symphony.

Although few of Jeff's friends and family went to college, Jeff earned a B.S. in chemistry from Emory University in 1951 and enlisted in the Navy immediately upon graduation. He served as a Naval Photo Intelligence Officer on the USS Kearsarge during the Korean War from 1952 to 1956.

It was during his term of military service that he began to take an interest in mathematics. His best friend at the time, John Steinhart, convinced Jeff that they should both pursue graduate studies in their chosen fields at the University of Wisconsin following discharge. With this goal in mind, the two friends decided to earn some spending money during the summer preceding the onset of classes as counselors at Hidden Valley Camp, located in Bangor, Maine. Jeff was soon smitten with fellow camp counselor Carol Parker, and they were ultimately married on June 29, 1957.

Jeff earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1961 and was hired by Kalamazoo College the following fall. Shortly thereafter, their first child, Andrew, was born. After a marvelous first year of teaching, Jeff was asked to work for the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC. A chance to engage in applied mathematics, doing research with the geophysicists, seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up; so Jeff reluctantly left "K."

The good news is that, after yearly invitations from Weimer Hicks and Larry Barrett, Carol and Jeff came home to Kalamazoo College in 1967, just in time for their second child, Megan, to follow the family tradition of being born in Bronson Hospital. Carol and Jeff lived just a block away from K College, and their social, professional, and intellectual lives were inextricably linked to the college. Jeff was honored to have received the Lucasse Teaching Award in 1985 and the Weimer K. Hicks Award in 1993.

In the mid 1970's, Jeff began to take an interest in the mathematics of English change ringing. He obtained funding to buy a set of hand bells for the college and founded the Kalamazoo College Guild of Change Ringers in 1977. Change ringing continued to gain momentum at the college, culminating in the installation of a ring of eight English tower bells in the bell tower of Stetson Chapel in June 1984. Nine years later, on the occasion of his retirement, a plaque was placed in the chapel documenting the pivotal role Jeff played in inspiring the college's acquisition of the bells.

Jeff retired from teaching in 1993 but continued to pursue his many, varied interests with great passion. The final decade of his life saw the serious study of the English melodeon (a type of button accordion) and a trip in England in 2018 to take part in a renowned melodeon festival.

Jeff was a true Renaissance man who took a keen interest in many aspects of life. Besides being a respected and much-loved professor, his passions, in addition to those mentioned earlier, extended to competitive cycling, string quartet playing, kite flying, college wrestling, model airplanes, calligraphy, apple growing, spin tops, antique tractor restoration, bread baking, and dairy farming, to name but a few. He was a loving and caring husband, father, grandfather, teacher and mentor who touched the lives of many through both professional and personal connections.

Jeff is survived by his wife of almost 62 years, Carol (Parker) Smith, with whom he shared a lifetime of true love, mutual admiration, and devotion. He is also survived by his children Megan Ernst (Sam) and Andrew Smith (Julie), and his four grandchildren: Justin Smith (Desi), Jordan Smith, Audrey Ernst and Lucinda Ernst.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved brother, Charles Hooper.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 11 in Stetson Chapel on the campus of Kalamazoo College at 2 pm with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jeff's memory may be made to the Kalamazoo College Mathematics Department or Change Ringing Program/Stetson Bells (www.kzoo.edu/giving).