Retired professor remembered for faith, kindness after fatal hit-and-run

MONROE, N.C. — Family, friends, former colleagues and students are mourning the death of retired Wingate University professor Leon Smith, who was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike Sunday in Monroe.

ALSO READ: Suspect arrested in deadly Monroe hit-and-run crash

His family and friends gathered Thursday at the Derby Restaurant & Bar in Monroe. They chose not to define him by the tragedy but by a life marked by faith, kindness, and service.

“I still can’t believe it. It hurts so deeply,” said former professor Gladys Kerr, Wingate University.

Smith’s daughter, Tara Smith Rummage, told Channel 9’s Miana Massey that on Sunday evening, her world changed forever.

“I was horrified. I was absolutely horrified,” Rummage said.

She learned that her 83-year-old father was killed in the hit-and-run along Morgan Mill Road.

“I thought, here I am, my brother lives in Midland. I’m here in Wingate, and I’m fatherless,” she said. “I have no parents. I thought in my right mind, ‘Who could do this?’”

The search for answers soon began along with an outpouring of support from the community.

“I didn’t realize how much of an influential person that he really was,” Rummage said.

Smith spent decades teaching communications at Wingate University where colleagues remember him as a professor who truly cared.

“He was commendable and outstanding in every way,” Kerr said. “He cared about his students. He did a fine job with his assignments, and he was a Christian.”

Smith was a man of many talents whose creativity and curiosity extended far beyond the classroom.

“He was a multitalented man, a musician, sculpture, teacher,” said former professor John Coleman, Wingate University.

Rummage said her father was determined to stay active despite health challenges.

“I think riding a bike was the best thing he could do for himself,” she said. “He was trying to stay healthy, trying to ride and actually got neighbors to ride with him.”

The community is holding tightly onto the legacy he leaves behind.

“His legacy is in his family, his daughter, son and grandson,” Coleman said. “I think that’s going to be his legacy.”

Smith’s memorial services will be on Saturday at First Baptist Church in Pageland, South Carolina.

Troopers arrested the suspected driver, Francisco Roman Escobar on Wednesday.

He’s in jail on a $250,000 bond.

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