Lakewood student remembered for sense of humor, willingness to help
The Lakewood community is remembering the life of a 16-year-old boy after he died unexpectedly earlier this month.
Gavin Smith died Nov. 5 due to an unknown heart condition, according to his obituary. A junior at Lakewood High School, Gavin was a member of the Lakewood Lancer Marching Band and Lakewood Drama Club. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America as a life scout and a member of Heath Church of Christ.
Gavin's father, Brent Smith, described him as always funny, smiling and kind.
As he moved through the ranks in Boy Scouts, Smith said Gavin developed many leadership qualities, as he was always first to help younger scouts set up their tents, teach them how to start a fire and more.
"He enjoyed serving the public with the Licking County River Round Up, honoring veterans by setting flags on their graves, attending events for military service members, serving meals at Last Call Ministries as well as many other activities where he could volunteer to help the public," Smith said.
According to Smith, Gaving enjoyed swimming and canoeing with his friends, playing video games, and loved to read. He and his family hope Gavin is remembered for his kind and gentle spirit, his tendency to put others' needs before his, and his sense of humor.
A family friend, Steve Burke, met Gavin as a young child while coaching his T-ball team. Gavin and Burke's son went through many Boy Scout ranks together and were going to be working toward Eagle Scout.
According to Burke, their troop went on a five-day, 40-mile trip in the northern tier of Minnesota, where Gavin carried the food for the troop's trip all week. Participating in Licking County River Round Up, Burke said he watched Gavin make 50 trips up and down the ramp unloading canoes.
Burke said if there was a job, it didn't matter what it was, Gavin did as he was asked without complaint.
"Gavin was very special in that way. There were times you knew he didn't want to do it," Burke said. "He never complained. He would just put his gloves on and get to work. He was always carrying the heavy load."
Although initially somewhat shy, Burke said he was enjoying watching Gavin come out of his shell in the past year.
Gavin's girlfriend, Claire Conaway, said she's known Gavin since elementary school and they'd begun going on dates in September. Claire said Gavin was the funniest guy she knew, sweet, kind, and generous.
"When all of our friends would hang out, he was the life of the party. He was always trying to make people laugh and feel included," she said. "We'd watch movies together. We would just make jokes during the whole thing."
Martha Fickle, who runs the drama club at Lakewood, said Gavin was involved in drama three years in high school and participated at the middle school level as well. Fickle said Gavin ran their sound booth and was a rock star at that. He often would volunteer to run sound booth for concerts and at the middle school.
"Gavin was a great friend. He treated everybody well. He thought of others before himself. He had a great sense of humor, a contaigious laugh, a great smile," she said. "When I see Gavin, I picture him in the booth. When I say he was an expert, he really was. He was doing things up there professional people do as far as the number of microphones we run."
Fickle said she believes Gavin's legacy is his selflessness and his willingness to lend a hand.
Lakewood Drama Club will be dedicating their weekend performances of Silver Belles to Gavin by wearing purple ribbons in his honor.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Lakewood student remembered for sense of humor, willingness to help
