Steve Smith, son of the prairie. (Photo courtesy Emma Smith)
Steve Smith was a rascal.
And I mean that in the best way possible.
Steve, who passed away at age 78 last week after a fight with multiple myeloma, was a larger-than-life athlete during his days at Coupeville High School.
Whether chasing people on the football field, or wielding a tennis racket, he was power and grace combined.
Or, as one former teammate remembered, “He tore people in half, and that was just in practice!”
Steve’s athletic skills stayed sharp throughout his college days, as he competed in track and field and once again blew up folks on the gridiron.
Drafted into the Army, he served in Vietnam as a medic between 1966-1968, earning the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Stories passed down about his time in country paint a portrait of a man beloved by those he served with, though Steve himself was not one to blow his own horn.
Not that he didn’t love telling a story or too, which is where the rascal part comes in.
A twinkle in his eye, Steve spent many an afternoon regaling me with tales during the Videoville days.
That continued over the years, both when I would see him at athletic events featuring his offspring, and during his frequent afternoon visits to swap tall tales with my landlord, Jack Sell, a fellow Coupeville native.
“Did you see what Emma did in the volleyball match last night? That’s my granddaughter, you know!! Gets all her talent from me!!!”
And then Steve would laugh, the mirth rumbling up from deep inside him, and he would admit that maybe some of the talent had come down from Grandma Sandi’s side of the family, too.
He loved his wife, and his pride in the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren their union produced was undeniable.
Steve’s dad Knight is a mythic legend, his own extraordinary sports exploits now somewhat buried in long yellowed newspaper clippings.
But daughter Joli was a transcendent three-sport star during my days as a painfully young Sports Editor at the Whidbey News-Times, one of the best I’ve written about.
And by the time I came back around to the prairie athletic beat with Coupeville Sports, some of Steve’s grandkids, like the aforementioned Emma, were making their own marks.
Through it all, whether it was his daughter, or sons Jesse and Todd, or the next generation, Steve glowed with pride when he talked about them and their exploits, sports related or not.
He was a small-town boy who reached for the stars, a prairie native whose impact touches many of us, near and far.
Steve Smith was our neighbor, our storyteller, and, most of all, our friend.
That will never change.
A graveside service will be held at 1 PM Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, at Sunnyside Cemetery in Coupeville.
Coupeville Sports 