Obituary: Dan Smith

Dan Smith served Messiah University for 32 years, retiring from full-time work in April. He started his career at Messiah as an HVAC technician and worked his way up to facility maintenance manager. His high level of HVAC knowledge served the University well. As technology changed, he continued to learn and grow. At the time of his retirement, Smith was providing leadership and oversight to the overall maintenance of campus buildings, fleet program, key services and central receiving. His in-depth knowledge and fun-loving personality created an environment in which his staff learned, grew, laughed and enjoyed their work. Over the years, he provided essential services for multiple campus emergencies, ranging from building floods, major sewer backups, heating and air conditioning failures, power outages and blizzards. He could always be counted on to be there when needed. Because he loved Messiah so much, when he retired from full-time work, he returned to the grounds department as a part-time mower. His professional contributions were deeply appreciated and the willingness to serve that he modeled was an inspiration to everyone who came in contact with him.