Celebration Of Life Honoring Dr. Joe Lee SmithThe Bridge Builder -

by Sammie Brown Martin

The motorcade carrying the late Dr. Joe Lee Smith was escorted by Taylor Funeral Home and Cremation on Thursday, September 11 to the Joe Lee Smith Recreation Center on Stone Street in Cocoa. Stops were made at Emma Jewel Charter Academy (former Monroe High School) on Blake Avenue and at the old Joe Lee Smith Center on Washington Avenue. Smith was laid in state on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, September 13, over 400 well-wishers assembled at Zion Orthodox Primitive Baptist Church in Cocoa for a Celebration of Life honoring Dr. Joe Lee Smith. A special musical tribute “Joe Lee We Salute You” written and composed by Pastor Oliver Wells of Christ the King Church began the two-hour Celebration of Life. The lyrics esteemed Smith as a voice of reason, providing wisdom in every season and as a true inspiration who made his mark through education.

Dr. Joe Lee Smith was born in Cocoa and graduated from Monroe High School. He went on to graduate from Florida A & M University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health and Physical Education. Smith was an educator in Broward and Dade Counties and was the first black to coach at a predominately white university. During the summer, he returned to FAMU and worked on his Master’ Degree. After earning a Master’s in Education, he took classes at Indiana State and Florida Atlantic Universities.

In 1966, Dr. Smith was hired Assistant Principal at Cocoa High School. Although he couldn’t attend the school, he was the first black to be employed. From Cocoa High School, Dr. Smith was hired at Brevard Junior College in Cocoa as Director of Student Activities. He later earned a Doctoral Degree at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Dr. Smith’s life was devoted to education. He served as Provost at all four Eastern Florida State College campuses. He also served as Dean of Instruction, Dean of Student Services, Director of Placement, Minority Affairs Advisor and Executive Advisor to the President and College Ambassador. Dr. Smith recently shared his fulfilment of working at all the campuses. However, his biggest challenge was enrolling more minorities.

As founder of the College Reach-Out Program, Dr. Smith wanted minorities to have preliminary training for employment opportunities in education. He wrote the “ABC’s of Becoming an Administrator” and “XYZ of Being and Effective Administrator,” to further assist minorities. He retired from EFSC on June 30, 2017. There is no part of the college that has not been touched and made better by Joe Lee shared president, Dr. Richey upon Smith’s retirement. Richey went on to call Dr. Joe Lee Smith, an African American pioneer in education in Florida, rising to leadership positions at the college and opening doors through which many other minorities have followed.

Dr. Michael Cadore, Executive Director of Community Engagement for External Affairs at EFSC revered Dr. Smith as “his” mentor and announced EFSC would present an annual presidential scholarship in Smith’s honor. He wasn’t boastful or braggadocious about his many achievements assured Attorney Kendall Moore. Dr. Smith was kind to all he interacted with. He offered advice with wisdom when needed. Moore went on to say, Smith loved folk that didn’t love him back. Shoot the funk to our brother Tricky Blake, charged Moore in closing. Richard Blake, also an educator and Rockledge statesman, was funeralized on June 13.

Richard “Dick” Blake and Joe Lee Smith were college roommates at Florida A&M University and lifelong friends. I’ve knew Dr. Smith all my life through my father, shared Cocoa Mayor Michael Blake. He was an international traveler, a good man that left a legacy in our hearts. He and my father have escaped as refugees. I can’t wait to see those rascals again to see whose hair is the darkest, chuckled Blake.

Uncle Joe Lee was a strict task master. He was always on the move and he even ate on the move. He would never buy a new car. He drove the wheels off his car and his body, snickered John Wesley Smith. He loved coon and he loved his jeep so much that he dyed it the same color of his hair, added his nephew, Timothy Edmonson.

Granddaddy had a billion-dollar smile and I enjoyed attending golf-camps and driving the golf-cart for him and mom, Mese shared Keyaira Goff. My granddad was the epitome of unconditional love. A simple man, humble, slow to anger, too fair at times shared Jasmine Brown.

Resolutions honoring Dr. Smith’s many contributions and accomplishments were acknowledged.
Pastor Drodney Williams implored the audience to be bridge builders, referring to a poem “The Bridge Builder” which is posted on the Bellows Falls, Vermont Vilas Bridge in New Hampshire. The author, Will Allen Dromgoole depicts an elderly traveler who built a bridge to make the journey easier for those coming behind him.
Dr. Joe Lee Smith was a bridge builder, said Williams. Despite adversities, Dr. Smith didn’t forget others were coming after him. He built bridges through mentoring, teaching and community service. Are we building bridges? Jesus was a master bridge builder who made a way for all us, proclaimed Williams.

Dr. Smith was a well-known champion for education throughout Brevard County and beyond, shared community activist, Alberta Wilson. He was a role model for many, said Wilson. The Dr. Joe Lee Smith Teaching Center now stands on the Melbourne campus of EFSC. The building was built in honor of Smith’s commitment to education. And, the City of Rockledge named a street, Dr. Joe Lee Smith Drive, for his outstanding community service. He served on the Rockledge City Council for 36-years.

We were a small community “back in the days” and our families lived several blocks from one another. We lived on Magnolia (now Stone Street) and the Smith’s were a few blocks away on Johnson Street, shared Laura Solomon Brown. Everybody knew one another. Joe Lee’s sister, Annie Mae was my classmate so we played together after school and would meet at either my father’s store or Pulling or JC Agers Groceries. First through ninth grade we attended Cocoa Junior High, but blacks went to Melbourne for high school. Dorothy Jones went to high school in Daytona. The Smith’s were well respected and hard workers said Brown.

Dr. Smith served on many boards and was a member of the Florida NASA Business Incubation Center (TRDA) and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He was an avid golfer and a loyal member of Zion Orthodox Church. He served faithfully for many years as Sunday School Teacher, Superintendent and Usher. He never gave me a problem as a member, shared Pastor Emeritus, Elder P L Jones.

Dr. Joe Lee Smith “The Bridge Builder” will be missed by many. He leaves a devoted wife of 63-years, Altamese, three children, Sharon Fletcher, Twiler Smith and Chyrell Sullivan, three grandchildren and three great-grands.