BUFFALO, N.Y. — Lum Smith, 79, was not only educated the Buffalo Public School system, he taught and later became an administrator.
He died unexpectedly at his home in January.
His son, pastor Travis Smith, said "my dad was all about children getting the best education, and he didn't care if you were poor, he didn't care what the situation was, he just wanted to help enrich individuals and see children bring their level of expectancy up, and that's exactly what he did. He would take some of the the poorest schools and bring them up as an administrator."
Smith was a noted historian. He loved baseball.
In a story from the Channel 2 archives, Smith talked about his great memories of Offermann Stadium in Buffalo. It was located where the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts school now stands on East Ferry and Masten.
Smith said during the interview he could see a baseball sailing into the neighborhood off the bat of Bisons great Luke Easter.
"That went 550-feet over the scoreboard and out onto Woodlawn Avenue," Smith said.
Smith was considered an athletic great. He served as principal of schools #51 and #63.
According to Smith's family, he was still working as a substitute administrator until the day before he passed away.