Birth date: Sep 13, 1961 Death date: Nov 5, 2019
Todd Mitchell Smith of St. Helens, Oregon passed away peacefully in his home on November 5, 2019. Todd was born in Astoria, Oregon on September 13, 1961 to Carol and Jack Smith. He graduated high school in Clatskanie, Oregon and Read Obituary
I knew Todd's parents and went to school with both. Their loss is like a loss to me because we shared the same memories of our school years at Clatskanie.
I grew up with Todd. Was in his class kindergarten through 12th grade. I always wanted to be more like him. A fun kid and a great guy.
Mr. Smith will always hold a special place in my heart. He was one of the few teachers that influenced my son Seth. Whenever he had a bad day, it would be a friendly talk with Mr. Smith, to turn it around. Few understood Seth like Mr. Smith. My son was autistic and Mr. Smith never let that be an excuse for him. During his senior year, my son decided not to finish. It was not until the next spring he decided to go back and finish. Although his classes were held off-campus, he would still occasionally see Mr. Smith. That was always a highlight for Seth. When Seth got his diploma one of his comments was that he knows Mr. Smith would be proud.
Thank you to the Smith family for giving a part of him to us. He has made a difference in my sons' life and I will forever be grateful.
God Bless
The Reyes Family
Mr. Smith had this unique way of including everyone without allowing anyone to feel like they're just like everyone else. I was his first freshman teacher assistant. He told me that he didn't want freshmen as his TA's because they were too young and inexperienced. I convinced him otherwise by bugging him about it until he gave in. I went on to be his TA at least once a year for the rest of the years I was in high school. He used to send me to Safeway to buy tomatoes for taco night, reader glasses (because he broke them so easily), and the newspaper. He was one of my favorite teachers throughout my years in the St. Helens School District. I still quote his "don't be sorry, be right" to my friends. I got into a bit of an argument with another teacher senior year, for reasons Mr. Smith knew, out in the hall near Mr. Smith's classroom and I'll never forget how he came out into the hall and completely backed me up in the argument, against his colleague, and then he pulled me into the gym to help him set up for his next PE class. Not only did I learn so much from him academically but also on how to be a decent and good human being with common sense. One day he had me test all of his markers on a piece of paper and throw out the ones that had dried up. I completely covered a piece of paper in strips of color and then I thought I threw it away but he kept it, wrote my name on it, framed it and then gave it to me as my graduation gift. It was simple but meaningful and I still have it. Mr. Smith is so incredibly missed and his absence will be a loss for the future students at SHHS.
