Larry G. Smith Elementary School

Larry Gene Smith was born in Amarillo, Texas in 1943. According to friends and family, he knew even in high school that he wanted to teach so others could learn from his success in the classroom and in sports.

After graduating high school in Seminole, Smith went to North Texas State University in Denton on a track scholarship. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1966, and would later earn two master’s degrees and a doctoral program certification.

Smith made his way back to West Texas after graduating and taught at a Lubbock junior high school for one year. He moved to Dallas in 1967 and began work for the Dallas Independent School District as a teacher and coach at Leslie A. Stemmons Elementary School.

He later taught and coached at Jefferson Davis Elementary and Skyline High School. Smith began moving into administration when he was a safety specialist at Fred Florence Middle School. He then served as assistant principal at the Business Management Center Magnet High School, and was a principal at both J.L. Long Middle School and Bryan Adams High School.

Smith was named area superintendent in 1997. He served the last six years of his career with the district overseeing the schools in the White Rock community. His friends and colleagues remember him best as a person who treated all children with respect and encouraged them to be the best at whatever they decided to do in life.

After 37 years as a teacher, coach, youth action officer, principal and area superintendent, Smith retired from the DISD in August of 2003. Many people who were positively impacted by his life saw Larry Smith as a man devoted to the field of education.

Larry Gene Smith died in November of 2003 at the age of 60. His family still lives in Dallas including his wife Susan, two sons and two daughters. One daughter is currently a teacher and another is an administrator in the DISD.