Patricia E. Smith

September 9, 1946 - October 27, 2025

Dr. Patricia Smith was an educator, a musician, a conductor, a leader, an author, a photographer, a visionary, a Christian, a social justice warrior, an animal lover, a humanist, and an empath.

She was born in Binghamton, NY and was encouraged by her parents and teachers to pursue music, both as a pianist and a trumpet player. She received many accolades as a musician in her formative years and even had the somber honor to play Taps on her trumpet at City Hall in Binghamton, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. She received a full scholarship to attend SUNY Potsdam and earned her Bachelor of Science in Music Education. Later, she would earn her Masters at SUNY Buffalo and her Doctorate at Columbia Commonwealth University.

She was a music educator for well over 5 decades at middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the US including Fairport High School (Fairport, NY), Sweet Home High School (Amherst, NY), Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, CT), Shorter College (Rome, GA), Floyd County High School (Rome, GA), University of Minnesota Duluth (Duluth, MN), among others. She was also an in-demand clinician on educational and music-related topics and loved mentoring young music educators in her role as student teacher supervisor at UMD.

She was an accomplished conductor, leading so many of her choirs to win state-wide competitions and being invited to guest conduct at many state-wide festivals. She loved conducting major works and musicals, her favorites being Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Bernstein’s West Side Story.

She was also proudly inducted into the Phi Delta Kappa Honor Society and is listed in the Who’s Who of American Teachers. Her students have always described her as fiercely funny, lovingly demanding, incredibly supportive, and infinitely inspirational.

In the past several decades, she became even more passionate about educational reform, and after being asked to create and execute a Ninth Grade Academy in Georgia where her program was responsible for raising the graduation rate from 25% to 90%, she was determined to share what she created and how she created it. She had been working on two books addressing the need for educational reform and how to go about it.

She was a woman of deep faith and did everything in her power to help those in need. She had a wicked sense of humor and loved adventures (within reason). She had a passion for photography and loved taking pictures of landscapes and stage productions. She was someone that everyone immediately loved upon meeting her.

One of her favorite quotes: “Today you could be standing next to someone who might be doing their best not to fall apart. So, whatever you do today, do it with kindness in your heart.” -Unknown

Patricia is pre-deceased by her mother, Edna and her father, Gerald. She leaves behind her cherished wife of 37 years, Regina Zona, and her 3 beloved puppies, Max (Maximillian), Jack (Jacques), and Chester (Sir Winchester III).

A Celebration of Life will be planned in the future. We encourage you to honor Pat’s legacy of learning and teaching by seeking out music that moves you, advocating for your civil rights, and sharing your insights with others. This, we believe, would be the best tribute to her extraordinary life. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Shih Tzu and Fur Babies Rescue (https://stfbr.org).