Stuart Elwood Smith, of Alfred, NY passed away on May 5, 2026, at the age of 99. He was born Christmas Day 1926 in Lyons, NY, to James Elwood Smith and Florence Smith. He grew up in the North Rose-Wolcott area of Wayne County, NY. In 1944 he enlisted in the Navy, while still in high school, after he graduated, he was placed in the Navy ROTC program and was enrolled in college at Grove City College in PA and then Vanderbilt in Nashville. WW II ended and he returned to NY and enrolled at U of R where he earned his bachelor's degree. At UR he also met his remarkable (so she was described by various people) wife, Loretta Miller, from Jamestown, NY. While they lived in the Rochester area, they had 2 children, Steven and Wendy. He taught history at Hannibal, NY for a couple years, and got a master's degree, again from U of Rochester. Subsequently they moved to Syracuse NY, where their 3rd child, Lisa, was born and he worked on his Doctorate degree at Syracuse University. In around 1958 they moved to Pulaski NY, where Stuart was guidance counselor for 6 yrs and where he received his Doctorate in Education from Syracuse University. In the fall of 1963, the family relocated to Alfred NY, in what Stuart said was the best move that he ever made. After 3 years they had a home built, where he and Loretta lived for the rest of their lives.

In Alfred they were members of the Union University Church, and worked with Habitat for Humanity, The Alfred Lions club, and many other endeavors while he was a professor at Alfred University and Loretta a teacher at Alfred State College in Nursing. They had an extensive social network, and he stayed in touch with many of his former students, one of whom wrote to him just last year to tell him what an important influence he (Stuart) had (this nearly 40 years after he retired). Stuart continued to present papers at conferences into his nineties. One of the topics he researched was child poverty and its effects on educational achievement. Stuart enjoyed tennis and ping pong and golf (though this was a struggle) after developing some proficiency early, something went wrong w/ his swing. 2 years ago, he did have a regulation par at Twin Hickory in Hornell. In his younger days he was a strong swimmer. He and Loretta did a lot of traveling, including a couple trips to Europe. Perhaps his and Loretta's greatest tragedy was when Lisa died of cancer in 2015, Loretta died the next year, and Stuart was saddened forever after. Besides Loretta and Lisa, he was predeceased by his brother, Donald H Smith and his sister, Barbara Leona Feldman. He retired in about 1988. Around 2020, a friend, MaryAnn Whittemore, moved back to Alfred, and they used to get together for a Scotch, other neighbors of MaryAnn, Verne and Sharon Burdick, and Mary Huntington used to join them and before long they had weekly Happy Hours w/ 20+ people. Over his 60 yrs in Alfred, Stuart became something of an icon, a well-known person. In the last few years as his vision declined and he had to stop driving, he began the weakening that typically happens with age and kidney failure, many people visited him and took him for rides (his greatest joy towards the end). We should mention Bob McArthur, who came to the house practically every night, for 7 months, and a friend for years, to share a Scotch and keep him company and took him on many rides. He had 3 grandsons: Ryan, Drew, Jeremy and 6 great granddaughters and a great grandson. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, May26, 2026, 10AM at the Union University Church in Alfred.