SMITH, Dr. Howard A.

May 06, 2015

Dr. Howard A. Smith, professor emeritus of educational psychology at Queen’s University, Kingston, died peacefully on Friday, April 24 at Kingston General Hospital of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 71.

Dr. Smith is known internationally for his numerous publications on nonverbal communication in teaching, human learning, and the semiotics of education. Two seminal texts, Psychosemiotics (2001) and Teaching Adolescents: Educational Psychology as a Science of Signs (2007) exemplify Dr. Smith’s major theoretical and practical contributions to his field.

Dr. Smith was born on May 7, 1943, in Ottawa. He grew up in Beebe, Quebec, with an early education in Fitch Bay, Beebe, and Stanstead. After completing a Bachelor of Science degree (University of New Brunswick) and a Diploma in Education (McGill University) he became a teacher of mathematics and science at Montreal’s Baron Byng high school, but he soon embarked on doctoral studies (University of Toronto). He was a loving family man and from 1971 to 2008 Dr. Smith distinguished himself as a scholar, mentor, and committed teacher at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. His motto, from Charles Sanders Peirce was: “Do not block the way of inquiry.” In 2003, Howard’s sister, Nancy Niemi, gave her brother a kidney; this gift permitted 12 years of high quality living, so that in retirement Howard could travel, maintain his academic interests, and a love of photography; to the very end he remained highly active outdoors. He found joy managing the wooded lakefront property in South Frontenac Township that he shared with Karin and Nicolas from 2001 until his untimely passing.

He is sadly missed by his wife, Karin Steiner, and her son, Nicolas Bell; his two children: Lara Smith (Brian Brown) of Sydenham and Dan Smith (Ophelia) of Brampton; his grandsons Ryan and Kyle of Brampton, who learned to fish at grandpa’s side, and his step-grandsons Brenden and Jarod Brown. Howard will also be missed by his sister Nancy of Panama, his brother Rodney of Kingston, his step-brother John B. Wilson of Kingston, cousins, nephews and nieces in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Florida. Family, friends, and extended family in Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the USA all pay tribute to Howard’s life: he was gentle, kind, a superb listener, and he valued quality over quantity in every sphere.

A celebration of life will be held at the Donald Gordon Conference Centre, Queen’s University, on June 28, 2015 from 2-4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The University Hospitals Kingston Foundation with the specific direction to support the Renal Program at Kingston Hospitals or New Leaf Link (www.newleaflink.ca) in support of the continuing education and community participation of adults with developmental disabilities.