Canandaigua's 'Half Pint' Smith remembered as giant of youth sports: 'He did it the right way'

Plenty of people have done plenty of sports through the years in Canandaigua, but few if any did them like Ronald Smith.

CYO basketball, Frank Baker Football, the Roseland Riders and the Canandaigua Brewers. “Half Pint” Smith wasn’t just around for those and more, he was behind the scenes, working with others to make sure the ideas were put into action. It’s an impact that thrives on many levels to this day and that’s why the Oct. 30 death of Mr. Smith hit so hard. He was 84 and true to form, Mr. Smith left us just how he would have wanted: surrounded by family.

And by family, it’s so much more than Judy, his wife of 62 years, and children David, Michael and Kelly. By family, it’s Canandaigua and the scores of young athletes whose skill, character and ethic formed their foundations in the sports programs he helped start and run throughout his life in Canandaigua.

“Ron never was much of a talker,” said Judy, Mr. Smith’s wife since 1960. “He didn’t express himself a lot but he was a good athlete … and sports was his way to teach. That’s all he wanted to do. His whole life was sports and that’s how we made all our friends.”

A basketball champion

Mr. Smith was a cross country runner and basketball player who graduated CA in 1956. He helped Canandaigua basketball to a 22-0 record in 1955-56 and the Section V Class AA championship, one of just two Section V titles in the history of the school.

“He was a wonderful player, good shooter,” said Jack Coons, a 1957 CA graduate and teammate on that championship team. “He was the team captain, the general on the floor who called plays.”

Mr. Smith moved to Canandaigua from Geneva when he was in third grade and lived on Fort Hill Avenue near Evans Field. He was never far from the football action for practice and games and that, believes Judy, is where the larger football players coined the nickname “Half Pint” that stuck with him for life.

He served as manager of the football team for a time under coach Clarence Aikey, but Mr. Smith also grew to admire the leadership of Frank Baker, who coached CA football from 1944-47 before becoming the recreation director for the city of Canandaigua.

And that’s where Mr. Smith developed his passion for youth sports.

“I remember after his dad died, Half was down,” said lifetime friend Bob Martino, who graduated CA in 1957. “And there was Frank Baker, comforting him. He kind of took Half on, and it showed.”

In the late 1960s, Mr. Smith was part of the group that started Frank Baker Youth Football while Judy was instrumental in getting the cheerleading program started. And while Mr. Smith never said it out loud, Martino had his suspicions about the motivation for getting the youth football league started.

“I had a feeling it was always about Frank,” said Martino.

Any sport, any time

But Frank Baker football, where he was commissioner for 12 years, is hardly everything. Mr. Smith coached basketball at St. Mary’s, Wiltse League baseball, semi-pro basketball with the Roseland Riders and fast pitch softball with the Canandaigua Brewers. He was active with the Pass, Punt and Kick program with the Elks Club and served as commissioner for a number of years with slow pitch softball in Canandaigua.

“He was always working and always looking to help the kids,” said Dennis “Putt” Moore, a 1964 graduate of CA. “He was the guy who was willing to give anything to the youth and the athletes of Canandaigua. He did it the right way.”

Moore, who coached basketball and baseball at Finger Lakes Community College before becoming athletic director, remembers getting the baseball team started at the college in the early 1970s. There was a need for uniforms, and guess who came through?

“Half Pint shows up with some old Canandaigua Brewers uniforms,” said Moore. “He said he had them in storage so our first games at Red Jacket Park were played in Brewers uniforms. Half Pint was just that type of guy.”

In 1977, Smith was named Outstanding Volunteer by the Genesee Valley Recreation and Park Society, an organization that covered Ontario, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Orleans, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates counties.

A lasting impact

Actions like that define the commitment of Mr. Smith, who walked the walk more than he talked the talk. Ideas are plenty, but it takes a dedicated heart to put the ideas into action, and that was Mr. Smith.

“He probably affected more generations than anyone I know,” said Moore. “He was a great athlete at CA and he was committed to the community. All these programs today, they have his fingerprints. He was instrumental in his own way in making Canandaigua what it is.”

Even more than what Mr. Smith did for Canandaigua is the way he did it, said Martino.

“He was a great guy,” he said. “In all the years I knew him, I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. Never. Not one.”

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Ronald Smith dies at 84: Known as 'Half pint,' remembered as giant of sports