As the 1934 Pleiad proclaimed, “Thereis little rest for such all-around athletes as Bill Smith. Nosooner is his football uniform in the mothballs than he dons hisbasketball suit and starts practice. The basketball season justends in time for him to get his track suit out of coldstorage.”
Bill led the Briton basketball team in scoring during his threevarsity seasons and gained All-MIAA honors as a senior. He was aversatile three-time letter winner in track while competing in theshot put, discus, high jump, pole vault, and long jump. Unable tocompete in organized football until his senior year of college,Bill made the most of his only season by earning All-MIAA honors asa triple threat halfback.
For several years following graduation, Bill taught and coachedin the Hanover, Ionia, and Ann Arbor schools. In 1941 he opted fora YMCA career that spanned 36 years of service with the Ann Arbor,Grand Rapids, and Lafayette, Ind., chapters.
Bill remained connected to Albion College by becoming his classrepresentative and serving on the Alumni Association Board ofDirectors. He received the Albion College Distinguished AlumniAward in 1978. Bill passed away in 1985.
He was married to Mary Elizabeth Smith, and they had three sons,Richard, ’60, Phillip, and Bill, ’67.
