JOLIET, Ill. — Dick Smith, a longtime coach at the University of Saint Francis and Valparaiso University, who also was an accomplished author and served his country in the U.S. Army and as an FBI special agent, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.
Smith served two 10-year stints as St. Francis head coach — most recently from 2003-12 — winning 562 games over his 20 seasons at the school. He was a part of 143 more NAIA victories as an assistant to his former all-conference pitcher Ali Franzen from 1999-2002 at St. Francis, and he claimed 24 Division I triumphs as Valparaiso’s head coach in 1995 and 1996.
In all, he was a member of the Saints’ staff for 27 of the program’s 37 years and was involved in softball for a total of 67 years — including the last 59 as a coach — starting in 1953 when he was introduced to the sport while in the Army. He had written for the NFCA’s member newspaper, Fastpitch Delivery, for most of its two decades of publication, and also wrote for Women’s Fastpitch World and penned two books, including Fast Pitch Softball Fundamentals.
“Our entire NFCA community is deeply saddened by the passing of Dick Smith,” NFCA Executive Director Carol Bruggeman said. “Coach Smith was one of our most selfless members. He dedicated his time and talents equally between the softball teams he coached and the NFCA. His educational insight shared through his column in Fastpitch Delivery helped numerous coaches across the country. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Smith family.”
After retiring from the FBI, where he did domestic counter-intelligence during a 21-year career that followed a stint in Army intelligence, Smith joined the St. Francis staff in 1981 under head coach Ed Serdar. Together, they led the 1982 squad to an NAIA World Series runner-up finish in just the program’s third season and Smith took over the reins in 1985.
In his first 10 seasons, Smith went 304-199 with three NAIA World Series appearances, seven Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference titles and another seven NAIA District 20 championships. His teams were ranked in the NAIA Top 20 Poll in eight of those years. After two seasons at Valparaiso, Smith won 258 more games in his second 10-year run at St. Francis.
During his 20 years as Saints head coach, his teams won 30 games seven times on the field and he graduated 100 percent of his players off the field.
“We are saddened to hear the news of Coach Smith’s passing,” Dave Laketa, University of St. Francis director of athletics said in a statement posted on the school’s athletic website. “He was a tremendous asset to our softball program and was very giving of his time and donated a lot to the program. We were extremely fortunate to have had him involved for nearly three-quarters of the program’s existence.”
“Dick never concerned himself with the wins and losses of the program or the many championships that his teams won,” Laketa continued. “His main concern was that the young women that he recruited to the program were successful in the classroom and after they left St. Francis. Everything else was topping on the cake.”
A graduate of Huntington (Ind.) High, where he starred in baseball, and Indiana University, where he earned both bachelor’s and law degrees, Smith spoke six languages — English, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Russian and Spanish. He is survived by his wife, Ruth, his son, Ernie, daughter-in-law, Debra, and three grandsons. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Tracy.
Friends and family will be received on Thursday from 2-8 p.m. at the Monee Funeral Home in Monee, Ill., and a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at the same location with an 1 p.m. burial at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill.
The St. Francis softball team will honor Smith with a patch on their helmets this season.
— Some information courtesy of the University of St. Francis