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Patrick Smith and his wife, Jean, hiked to Macchu Picchu in 2006. |
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1947-2006
On Aug. 27, 2006, Patrick Smith was one of 49 people who tragically lost their lives in plane crash just outside Lexington, Ky.; he was flying to a Habitat build. Elected to Habitat's international board of directors in October 2005, Pat had been a volunteer with Habitat Lexington for more than 15 years, serving on the local board for seven years, including three as president. Pat also served on Habitat's U.S. Council, having begun his term in May 2005.
As a Habitat volunteer, Pat participated in numerous Global Village trips to West Africa and Northern Ireland, as well as serving as a crew leader on Jimmy Carter Work Projects South Africa and Mexico. He was named Habitat's "Volunteer of the Year" in 2003.
Pat was known for his contagious enthusiasm for travel and service. Dennis Pike, a fellow Lexington Habitat board member, remembers several adventures with Pat in the following tribute.
Pat Smith, an ordinary man who did extraordinary things. He was a husband, father, grandfather and best friend of hundreds. I was one of those hundreds.
I started Habitat builds with Pat in 2000 - only six years ago, but a lifetime of adventure. We visited every continent except Antarctica, but it was in his plans to build the first Habitat house there.
He introduced me to cultures that I never knew existed, and we saw sights that I had only read about. Our first build together was in Assasan, Ghana, where Habitat, under Pat's guidance, built 56 houses, a church, a library and a three-room school. Subsequently, we built in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Mexico and Sri Lanka. The only build I missed was in India, just last year.
Pat had a way of calling me and starting the conversation with "I've got an idea ... ." I knew I was headed off to a new adventure building Habitat houses in a place I never dreamed of visiting.
On builds we worked hard all week, but the weekends were spent taking side trips to learn more about the area and the culture. We went on safaris and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, which just about did us both in.
Our last build together was in Sri Lanka following the tsunami. It was a relief effort that Pat put together; he formed a team of 12 men to build in the area. When we landed in Columbo, nothing appeared amiss. However, when we rounded the curve to Galle, all we saw were tent cities and graveyards. For the first time, I saw dismay in Pat's face. "One house at a time" seemed miniscule.
And yet he went on to spend three months in India last year rebuilding in a tsunami-stricken area that had been neglected. He and his wife, Jean, could have been at home with their children and four young grandchildren, but instead they spent Christmas 2005 building the final house of the India project. They celebrated that completion two days later.
His latest projects included planning a group to work at the Jimmy Carter build in India in October 2006 and forming an alliance between Lexington, Ky., Habitat and Gulfport, Miss., Habitat to build houses with hurricane victims. He worked on the opening of the second Habitat ReStore site in Lexington, he helped a friend prepare her restaurant for its opening, and somehow he found time to work at his company, Versa Tech.
Pat touched more lives than anyone can count. He nurtured more Habitat volunteers and employees than anyone will know. Now it is up to us, his friends and beneficiaries, to continue his legacy and carry out the work for which he has prepared us.
"Friends of Pat Smith" have established an endowment to fund future Habitat houses and enable other volunteers to build overseas. For more information on the endowment, or to make a donation, visit www.lexhabitat.org.
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