Chester Craig Smith was born on December 1, 1909 in Greensboro, N.C. Now, at 105 years young, he’s the oldest living alumnus of High Point University.
Just three years after then-High Point College opened its doors in 1924, Chester – or as he likes to be called, “Chet,” – came to campus as a freshman. His brother Carl started two years later with the Class of 1933, and the two joined the Epsilon Eta Phi fraternity together.
At the time, Dr. R.M. Andrews was working as the college’s first president, leading a total faculty of 23 professors. Smith was president of his senior class of 40 students, and was voted “Best All-Around” before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1931.
While at High Point, Smith was active in sports, playing baseball, track and soccer, and even coaching the soccer team his last two years as a student. In the 1931 HPU “Zenith” yearbook, Smith’s basketball manager Louis McKibben praises his abilities on the court:
“Chet was the best shot on the squad. He could left-hand them in from almost any position on the floor. His shots went through the hoop with uncanny accuracy, not even stopping long enough to say ‘hello’ to the rim.”
After college, Smith led an impressive career at the YMCA that spanned over 48 years. During his time with the Y, he touched the lives of many and served on numerous national and international YMCA boards, committees and associations throughout the southeast.
Decades after graduating, Smith still believed in HPU, and established the Chester C. Smith Scholarship Fund in 1996 for students in financial need. The scholarship name has since been changed to the Chester C. Smith and K. Jane Smith Merritt Scholarship Fund to include his daughter Jane, an HPU alumnae of the class of 1964.
During a visit to HPU in 2009, 100-year-old Smith marveled at all the changes that had been made to HPU’s campus since he graduated 78 years before. He now lives with his daughter and her husband Lou Merritt, spending time between their homes in Tallahassee and Lake Seminole.
As the oldest living HPU alumnus, Smith claims his secret to longevity is eating lots of ice cream. And he doesn’t even care what flavor it is. He loves it all.
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