Arthur Frederick Smith

Middletown, - Dr. Arthur Frederick Smith, 69, of Chases Lane Middletown, a mathematics professor at Rhode Island College, died Tuesday, February 11, 2003 at home of complications from pancreatic cancer.He was the husband of Marjorie Coblentz Smith. Born in Newport, RI on May 5, 1933, he was the son of Frederick and Mary Carol White Smith he was a long time resident of Aquidneck Island. He was a direct descendent of Perigrine White, t he first child born in New England aboard the Mayflower in Cape Cod Bay.Dr. Smith had been a mathematics professor at Rhode Island College in Providence since 1965. He was scheduled to retire in June 2003. He received the Alumni Faculty Award for teaching in 1998. He graduated from Rogers High School in 1950 ROTC member, and the University of Rhode Island in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Mathematics. He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Tau Beta Phi math and engineering honor societies. He received his Masters degree in Math Education in 1965 from Bowdoin College, Maine, while on a National Science Foundation Grant. In 1973 he earned a PhD. In Mathematics from the University of Connecticut. He served in the Navy from 1955-1957 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain, prior to starting his teaching career. He taught mathematics at the high school level in Long Beach, CA, and then in Ludwigsburg, Germany for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools DODDs before joining the faculty at RIC. He also worked for the National Park Service during the summer seasons as a park ranger in Yosemite National Park, CA, and Acadia National Park, ME. In addition to his wife of 42 years he leaves a son Kurt Smith of New York City, NY, his daughter Lisa Smith Bohner of Winchester, MA, his sister Carol Ann Smith Boyes of Rockville, MD, and two grandchildren Calvin and Katherine Bohner. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 15, 2003, at 10:00AM, in the Hambly Funeral Home Brick House, 30 Red Cross Avenue, Newport. Burial will be in St. Marys Churchyard in Portsmouth. In lieu of flowers the family requests you make a donation to the charity of your choice.