In a statement submitted to the Congressional Record today, U.S. Senator Angus King paid tribute to the life of Wil Smith, a former associate dean at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and a coach, mentor, and friend to countless people across the state. Wil lost a three year battle with colon cancer on Sunday morning. He was 46 years old.
Mr. President, I rise today on a sad occasion. Yesterday, Bowdoin College—indeed, the entire State of Maine—lost a truly great man. Wil Smith, who was a good friend to countless people in Maine, passed away yesterday at the age of 46 following a courageous three-year battle with cancer.
It is difficult to encapsulate in words the remarkable depth and breadth of someone like Wil. He grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, the youngest of ten children. His mother, Mildred, passed away when he was 15 years old. After high school, Wil briefly attended Florida A&M University before enlisting in the U.S. Navy and becoming an aviation electronics technician. He served in the first Gulf War and was later transferred to the Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine.
While stationed in Brunswick, Wil began coaching football at Brunswick Middle School. It wasn’t long after that when the coach of the Bowdoin College men’s basketball team spotted him and was impressed by his talent and natural ability to work with kids. He asked Wil if he had ever thought about attending college. After some convincing, Wil applied to and was accepted at Bowdoin.
It was also during this time that Wil became a father—and only months before his first semester began, he was granted full custody of his 11 month-old daughter, Olivia. To say the least, he was a nontraditional student in almost every sense. Matriculating at age 28, he was a decade older than most of his freshmen classmates. He was one of just three African-American students in his class. And he was the first single father in Bowdoin’s history to attend the college.
He worked tirelessly—carrying Olivia to class and then to basketball practice, taking evening shifts at the local Staples store, and volunteering at area high schools. He faced challenges unfathomable to most of his classmates at Bowdoin—struggling to balance a commitment to his daughter and his rigorous coursework. But Wil persevered—and he did so with a strength of conviction and determination that would come to define the influence he would have on students who would follow in his footsteps at Bowdoin.
Following graduation, Wil continued to devote his time and energy to his community, and in particular, to young people of nontraditional or underrepresented backgrounds. He continued to serve in the U.S. Navy Reserves, and joined the staff of Bowdoin College, serving as Director of Multicultural Student Programs. Driven to continue his education, he then enrolled in the University of Maine School of Law, where three years later, he would graduate with a law degree and once again return to Bowdoin.
At Bowdoin, Wil served as a beacon of light to so many students—many of whom, like him, toiled with the challenges of the transition to college. But as a gifted mentor and as someone who had the rare ability to genuinely connect with people, to understand them, and to relate to them, Wil inspired a newfound sense of hope in countless students, and his advice, unfailing support, and encouragement turned around the lives of hundreds and perhaps thousands of people.
And while students were away from Bowdoin during the summer, Wil dedicated his time to the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield, Maine. It was an endeavor that he joined in the summer of 1999, before he graduated from Bowdoin, and it was one he carried on until last summer. At the camp, he mentored children from across the world, and challenged them to look at and judge their peers not by their race, ethnicity, or differences—but by their thoughts and their merit. Will was truly a team player in this work, serving in numerous positions at Seeds of Peace over the years, from coach to counselor to associate director. But the title was always less important to Wil than knowing he was helping those he worked with at the camp. And true to the camp’s mission, Wil cultivated seeds of peace within the heart of every child he met—his reach and impact extending around the world.
That same spirit of mentorship drew him to the basketball courts of Catherine McAuley High School in South Portland, where he coached the girls’ varsity team for a decade, amassing nearly twice as many wins than losses and, in a testament to his talent as a coach, bringing home a prized State Championship in 2007. Through the game he loved, he taught young women about the power and virtue of leadership, character, and teamwork—the same traits he worked so hard to instill in students at Bowdoin, in young people at Seeds of Peace, or in anyone who came to him in search of help.
There is a hole in the heart of our community today. But while Wil’s loss is felt by countless people, his legacy will be carried on by the thousands who were fortunate enough to know him. Indeed, it is that legacy of caring, of hope, and of understanding which he has given to us and which we will give to future generations along with his story as proof that even the most unlikely of beginnings can yield remarkable outcomes. Today, the world is a lesser place for Wil’s loss, but we are all better for him having been in it.
My heart goes out to his daughter, Olivia; his partner, Maha Jaber, and her son, Nim; his family; and to all the people whose lives were touched by this extraordinary man’s unfaltering enthusiasm, caring, and generosity.
