A pillar in the Chapel Hill community and local education system recently passed away after a century of life.

Euzelle P. Smith died on Saturday, September 19, according to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system. She was 101 years old.

R.D. and Euzelle Smith. Photo via Smith Middle School

Smith and her husband, R.D. Smith, moved to the Northside neighborhood in the early 1940s from Virginia. After marrying in 1943, R.D. got Euzelle a job working in the education system, teaching at the Orange County Training School and eventually Lincoln High School. She taught through the integration of CHCCS schools in the 1960s, eventually becoming a guidance counselor for the district in 1968. She retired after nearly 40 years of work in the education system in 1981.

In 1999, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district approved naming the new R.D. and Euzelle P. Smith Middle School in their honor. The Chapel Hill Historical Society later named both the Smiths Town Treasures in 2008.

Chair of the CHCCS Board of Education Mary Ann Wolf mentioned Smith’s passing during a joint meeting with Orange County Schools Board and the Orange County Commissioners on Thursday.

“She’s just such a great reminder of what this community is about and how we look at academics, but we’re always looking at the whole child and families,” said Wolf. “I want to just mention her tonight to let her inspire us yet again as we go through these challenging times.”

Dr. Jim Causby, the interim superintendent for CHCCS, finished his weekly message to system parents by also honoring Smith.

“She was an education icon in our community,” wrote Causby on Friday. “Her many years of service in our schools has created a lasting legacy that will surely impact generations to come.”

Earlier this year, the Northside community celebrated Smith’s 101st birthday by hosting a vehicle parade to honor the matriarch while being conscious of the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers had dozens of community members drive their cars by Smith’s home to wave hello as she sat outside with many of her family members.

Smith is survived by several family members, including three children, six grandchildren, ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Friends and family of Euzelle Smith celebrated her 101st birthday with a drive-by parade in Chapel Hill on Friday, July 3. (Dakota Moyer/Chapelboro.com)

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