wfn.org | Sheldon Jackson grad is killed in Philippines

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7054 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

14-February-2002
02065

Sheldon Jackson grad is killed in Philippines

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - A graduate and onetime faculty member of Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, AK, was shot and killed last month while hiking with a friend in the Philippines.

Brian Smith, 41, of Sitka, earned an associate of science degree from the Presbyterian-related school in 1981 and served as director of student life in the early 1990s, according to the Daily Sitka Sentinel newspaper. He was buried on Feb. 13 at a cemetery in his native Grinnell, IA. 

A memorial service at Sheldon Jackson is planned on Feb. 17.

"His loss has been felt by many - the alumni, the faculty, the Sitka community," said Zoe Verchota, Sheldon Jackson's Director for College Advancement. "There are so many people saddened by his passing."

While in Sitka, Smith was a member of the Presbyterian Church and regularly attended services at the Caroline Yaw Chapel on campus, according to Frank Roth, a friend.

Smith was shot and killed on Jan. 30 while hiking with a German friend, Sigfried Whitman, near the Mount Pinatubo volcano outside Manila. Whitman, who was wounded, reported the incident by cell phone. A Philippine army spokesman told the Sitka newspaper that the attackers may have been affiliated with the communist New People's Army guerillas.

Smith, who had been living in the Philippines, was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, hunting and hiking, and had worked for Parker's Guide Service in Sitka. He often traveled in Asia, where he taught English as a second language.

Survivors include his parents, O. Eugene and Darlene Smith, of Grand Junction, CO, and five sisters.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to the Brian Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund, Sheldon Jackson College, 801 Lincoln Street, Sitka, AK, 99835.
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org