Geoff Smith.Courtesy of family
Geoff Smith: Professor. Papa. Superfan. Peace activist. Born March 16, 1941, in San Francisco; died April 1, 2021, in Kingston, of heart failure; aged 80.
A few summers back, a busload of tourists on Kingston’s Trolley Tour were gazing at the imposing Frontenac County Courthouse.
“Welcome to Kingston!” Heads swivelled. The tall fellow who’d hollered out the exuberant greeting was walking his golden lab on the other side of the street.
Historian Geoff Smith was a larger-than-life character, a man about town whose warmth and impish humour invariably prompted a smile from friends he buttonholed on the street. If they had a dog, all the better. Geoff loved to engage dogs.
A graduate of California’s esteemed public university system, he moved to Canada in 1969 with his then-wife Bonnie and children David, Brian and Kristin. He was hired by Queen’s University historians looking for a lecturer who would be a magnet for students. He fulfilled the promise while also galvanizing Queen’s basketball teams for decades.
It was at Queen’s that Geoff met the feminist scholar Roberta Hamilton, herself the mother of three. After 27 years together, they married in 2011, prompting Roberta’s brother Jim to observe wryly that “It seems my sister is getting a bit impulsive.”
The blended family would eventually grow to include eight grandchildren. Geoff was a loving and attentive father, stepfather and grandfather whose unabashed enthusiasms kept things humming. No one around the house could be in any doubt about yesterday’s dramatic game or just how much he was enjoying that day’s reading.
Geoff’s numerous teaching awards included the Frank Knox Award – the highest honour given to instructors by students – for outstanding commitment to education through teaching excellence. He recoiled at the idea of education as job preparation: “To be curious, to be skeptical,” he explained to overcrowded classrooms. “That’s why you’re here. You’re learning how to think!”
A scourge of the passive voice, Geoff was determined to improve student writing. He regarded meticulous editing as essential to education. Moreover, troubled students discovered the heartfelt generosity of a professor who made time to help them through their personal struggles, using his own experience with depression to do so.
Geoff was a self-aware fellow, once describing his basketball addiction as an illness. In his retirement years, he brought his passion to the public square, pushing for official action against the binge drinking common at Queen’s. A student egged his front door, a sign of his campaign’s impact.
Geoff’s emphasis on moderation carried over to years of published Letters to the Editor – he specialized in tight, two-sentence messages. Geoff’s regular column for The Kingston Whig-Standard reflected his passion for sports and his politics.
After retirement, Geoff found new enthusiasms, approached with characteristic zeal. Painting. Guitar. Social media. And his newfound knitting zeal produced dozens of colorful scarves for friends and family (though he always had a friend cast on and cast off).
Having come of age during the 1960s antiwar movement, Geoff was a committed peace activist. He received the Peace History Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award and remained a fixture at Kingston’s annual Hiroshima Day memorial observances. One incident captures his pacifism and iconoclasm. During Canada’s war in Afghanistan, he was surprised to see a patriotic military display unfolding at a Queen’s football game. He staged a one-man protest in front of thousands.
“He was frog marched off the field,” Roberta recalled. “He had a hell of a good time.”
At his virtual funeral Geoff’s granddaughter Avery Smith told her favourite Papa story. Soon after marrying, Geoff and Roberta travelled to California for a family celebration. At the restaurant, Geoff rose to thank the family. “But he didn’t just talk to us,” Avery recalled. “He talked to the whole restaurant. And when he finished he proclaimed, ‘I am married and I am happy.’ Everyone in the restaurant applauded.”
Jamie Swift was Geoff’s friend.
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