Local arts advocate Lois Smedick dies of West Nile virus
Expressions of gratitude and mourning from Windsor art community after news of Lois Smedick's death
Lois Smedick was a scholar, former president and board member at the Art Gallery of Windsor and volunteer in countless community organizations.
On September 13, the woman many called a "champion" of Windsor's arts community, died of West Nile virus. She was 84.
"I think she was a good friend to people," said current Art Gallery of Windsor director Catharine Mastin. "She was always supportive and full of enthusiasm for the community and the collection and the gallery and its role here."
On Friday, the Windsor-Essex County Heath Unit reported a third person in the region had died of West Nile virus. Mastin said that Smedick had been of sound mind and spirit the past few weeks before she became sick.
She added Smedick was "one of the more important presidents" the art gallery has ever had in its nearly 75-year history.
Smedick supported the gallery since it was located at Willistead Manor, according to Mastin. She was also the site construction supervisor when the gallery was moving to its current address on Riverside Drive West.
"That's, as you can imagine, huge to be overseeing a 75,000 square foot building going up," Mastin explained.
Before working at the gallery, Smedick was part of the University of Windsor community.
"Everybody enjoyed working with Lois she was a wonderful person," said University of Windsor president Alan Wildeman. "She also realized that there were a lot of opportunities, a lot of leadership roles that traditionally woman had not occupied."
Smedick was the first female dean in the faculty of graduate studies and research and a founding member of the Friends of Women's Studies program.
"That was no small accomplishment as a woman," said Mastin. "I also think very fondly of her as a feminist and a person who always championed women in public life."
Smedick gave much of her time to volunteering. She served as a member of the boards of Windsor Endowment for the Arts, Assumption University, Artcite, Erie Wildlife Rescue and Jazzpurr Society for Animal Protection. She also was part of the planning committee at Bookfest Windsor.
"Those are the kinds of sustained commitments that I just think really ought to be well remembered because it's a model for community leadership and engagement," said Mastin.
Wildeman said that the university is planning to host an event to honour Smedick in the near future.