Remembering John Smith: A one of a kind man/coach

One of the first coaches I met when I arrived at the BCR in November of 1986 was John Smith.

The basketball season was just starting up and John was coaching the Princeton girls. I found a fast and lasting friend.

He was one of very few people to call me, “Kevy.”

I got to cover his Tigresses teams until he retired in 1994 and stayed in touch over the years, talking sports and attending the Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame together.

Whenever I was in need for some PHS history, in particular Princeton’s state basketball teams from the mid-50s, Smitty was my go-to man. He was a sophomore behind the Joe Ruklick/Lew Flinn gang, and really looked up to them and joked how they always drew big crowds for the sophomore games because the varsity was such a tough ticket.

Sadly, we lost Smitty on Monday, Dec. 16. He passed away at age 85.

While he may have had a most common name, he stood out in his own way.

John didn’t have a father-figure growing up, yet he became one over the years for the many kids he coached, taught and recruited for his detasseling crew

He was a true gentleman, humble, honest and friendly as anyone you’d ever meet.

John Young, a longtime colleague at PHS, said Smith was his first best friend in Princeton and kept an endearing friendship up. Smith stood up for John and Sharon Young’s wedding.

“He was not only my best friend in Princeton, but the most honest, positive, friendly, encouraging, optimistic, and supportive friend anyone might want,” Young said. “He was a super spouse, parent, teacher, coach and all around good guy. He was someone that people should try and pattern themselves after.

“He will definitely be missed. I know that statement is often overused, but it is definitely true in this case. I will continue to pray for Lynda and his kids.”

Former PHS principal Barb (Schmidt) Valle had a unique relationship with Smith and was just one of the many people that he impacted.

“(He was) my teacher, my coach, my colleague, coaching partner, bus driver. He was a fantastic educator and coach, but an even better human, father and husband,” Valle said.

Ann Maller, who played on three of Smith’s regional champions, and Tina (Forth) Heller, who played on Smith’s 1991 regional champions, said their coach left impacts on every one he coached. Coincidently, both have followed Smith into the teaching ranks.

“He was a very kind man. He was always smiling and his unique slight laugh will be remembered,” said Heller, who teaches for PES. “Even after tough games, he would focus on the positive. If I asked him to stay after practice because I was struggling with my shot, he would. In the classroom, his calm and helpful nature made math enjoyable as well.”

“Coach Smith had such a profound impact on so many of us who had the privilege to play for him. He was the steady, fair, quiet leader, whose influence stayed with us long after we left PHS,” said Maller, who teaches at Hall. “When the pressure was on in a tight game, his crisp clap and foot stomp on the sidelines told us to kick it into high gear and keep our head in the game. He instilled in us a love of the game, the importance of good sportsmanship, and a pride in teamwork. And in addition to all of that, he made the game fun."

Maller said it could have been months or years, but every time she saw her coach she was reminded of “the kind, caring, exceptional human he was. He made me feel seen, heard, and important even in brief interactions, and I know he did that for countless other of his students and players through the years. The Tiger community will miss Coach Smith, but his legacy will live on in all of the lives he’s touched.”

After teaching at Mendota for four years, Smitty found his way home to his alma mater to teach math thanks to the encouragement of PHS teacher Paul Goble. Rita (Goble) Calvert, Paul’s daughter, said John had an unique method for teaching Algebra 2.

“He had us document and label our work as you went, so you wouldn’t lose sight of what you were doing,” she said. “It helped keep you organized, but it also made you accountable. This was a principle John knew well. He was simply one of the very best teachers I ever had.”

Smitty was also the golf coach at PHS at the time when Calvert was in school and she was wanting to play after the passing of Title IX. After much debate, she was put on the boys team. It was quite the success story as Calvert became Princeton’s first state golf medalist (twice) long before it had a girls team.

“I will never forget John’s words as he took it in stride and told the boys at the first meeting before the season started, ‘Fellas, a young lady is going to be playing on our team this year, and she is going to help us win,’” she said. “He knew we were going to have to face all-boy teams and all-male coaches every single match of the year, but he faced it down with courage and grace. And we won as a team.”

Smitty coached to win, but he also coached to coach kids. He had a genuine care for each girl he coached and that feeling was mutual. Long after she served the team as manager in the 1980s, Diana Kinnett would call Coach Smith at 3 p.m. every Thursday at “practice time” just to say hello.

He got to coach both of his daughters, Amy (‘86) and Alison (‘94), though Amy wasn’t sold on the idea at first because she felt dad was already way too involved in her life.

“Dad came home my sophomore year after school and said, ‘I’m taking over the girls basketball team,‘” Amy said. “I was like, ‘I had you two years as my teacher. You drive the fan bus. You drive the team bus. You’re my detasseling boss. You’re my softball coach. Can I do just one thing without you? Just one thing?’

“Man, I’m glad he took over that job because we kicked butt.”

“And then my team came,” Alison quipped about her senior season and dad’s final year.

In recent years, the old coach was brought in by current coaches at PHS to help tutor a player who was struggling with his shooting.

Smitty was the longest tenured of any PHS girls coach with a 10-year tenure from 1984-94. He is also the winningest coach in program history with 88 wins.

He took over in 1984-85 following a 1-21 season and promptly led the Tigresses to three straight regional championships, capped by a 20-6 campaign in 1986-87.

He won a fourth regional in 1991.

“To win the three, have an off year or two, and come back in ‘91 and win it with that group, that was special,” Smitty told me in an interview for the 50th-anniversary story on the PHS program last year.

The Princeton girls had only won regional before him (1980) and only two after (2005, 2006).

“Smitty” will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.

I offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Lynda, their kids, Amy, Matt and Alison, and his six grandsons, who he loved all dearly.

There will be a Celebration of Life for John in the New Year.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com