University community mourns the loss of retired professor Dr. Leon Smith

By Chuck Gordon

Not only could Dr. Leon Smith skillfully play bluegrass and country songs during jam sessions at local churches; he could actually build the dobro or banjo he'd use to fill the rec halls with improvised melodies.

And like any good communications professor, he could also explain how he made it.

Leonidas Constantine Smith III, a retired Wingate communication professor who never lost his yen for learning and improving, died on Dec. 28 after being struck while cycling along a country road in Union County. He was 83.

A native of Polkton, N.C., Smith attended Wingate College, UNC Chapel Hill and Clemson University, ultimately receiving his doctorate in English from Ohio University. He returned to Wingate in 1980 to teach in the new communication major, helping mold storytellers, speakers and writers for the next 28 years.

Dr. Smith helps a student during registration in 1982.

Smith had taken up cycling late in life as a way to stay fit, and he'd typically ride about 20 miles a day. The physical activity matched a mental acuity that he honed with a variety of interests. Smith was a pastor, a writer, a professor, a musician and an artist.

"It was always surprising and fun for me to learn things about him," says Dr. Jim Coon, a retired Wingate communication professor who worked alongside Smith for many years. "'You're into music too? Wait, you make instruments? Wait, you also sculpt?' You could talk to him about a wide variety of subjects and he knew a lot. He was a real Renaissance man."

When former Wingate math professor Gladys Kerr was helping create the Museum of the Waxhaws in western Union County, Smith wanted to help out.

"Leon went to work and learned how to sculpt, and he made a bust of Andrew Jackson for the museum," says Barbara Pann, who worked alongside Smith in the communication department for two decades. "If he didn't know something, he would read about it - you know, before we had YouTube. He was self-taught in many skills."

Smith could play a variety of instruments.

It takes a lot of gumption to teach yourself to play the banjo (or make one) or to learn how to sculpt a bust of a former president. "Leon was a very determined individual," says John Coleman, another former longtime Wingate communications professor. "He would stick with things when others might have taken another route. I always admired that about him."

Smith's perseverance rubbed off on his students, many of whom went on to long careers in news and public relations in the Charlotte market. Smith came to Wingate to help start the communication program after spending time in public television in Ohio. He blended academic expertise with professional experience, providing students with real-world examples to go along with the theory he taught them.

He was also adaptable, teaching a wide variety of courses over the years: linguistics, TV and video production, advertising, even pulpit speaking. According to Coleman, Smith pushed students to reach their potential.

"He was always determined, when it came to students, that he would get the best out of them, whatever they were capable of," he says. "If they were a C student, he wanted to make sure they got that C. An A student, same thing. Even if students weren't terribly talented or adept in the subject he was teaching, he was determined that they would succeed."

An ordained minister who served as interim pastor at many Anson and Union county churches over the years, Smith provided a sympathetic ear for both students and colleagues, and the counsel he gave was always well thought out and meaningful.

"He thought before he spoke," Pann says. "He put God first in everything he said and did. He was kind to others. He always cared about what you were doing, and he always asked about your family."

Smith was killed in a hit-and-run incident on Morgan Mill Road in Monroe. According to news reports, a suspect was arrested on New Year's Eve.

"Whatever Leon did, he did full bore," Coleman says. "When he took up cycling, he really took up cycling. He became serious about it. I think it was a good thing. I think it helped him healthwise. But it's sad that it ended like that."

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 3, at First Baptist Church of Pageland, S.C.

Jan. 2, 2026