Fourth-year College student Hunter Smith, 21, died Dec. 17 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Smith’s cause of death remains unconfirmed, though University Police responded to a suicide report at 583 Brandon Avenue — Bice apartments — also on Dec. 17.
Smith is survived by his parents, Carol Crawford Smith and Mark Hunter Smith. He was born Sept. 1, 1993 in Blacksburg, Virginia and is the eldest of two.
Smith graduated from Blacksburg High School in 2011 and was on track to graduate from the University in May 2015. He was a mathematics major and environmental sciences minor, but also had a talent for learning languages.
With his death, Smith becomes the fourth University student to pass away this semester.
Smith’s close friends said he will be remembered for his creative energy, spontaneity and selfless attitude.
“He was so loved,” fourth-year College student Anna Boynton said.
Smith was a lifeguard, as well as a member of the gymnastics club team and the Virginia Acrobatics Club.
Smith’s friends remember how every Halloween, he would give impromptu acrobatics performances on the silks at the Downtown Mall Pavilion dressed as Peter Pan for local children.
“I had the pleasure of getting to see him perform on the silks … and he literally hadn’t practiced his routine beforehand,” fourth-year College student Kamala Ganesh said. “He had choreographed the entire thing in his head — even coordinated it to music, and everything. It was amazing.”
Boynton also recalled Smith’s affinity for the sport with fondness.
“He brought such a personality to his gymnastics and the acrobatics,” she said. “He just made it come alive.”
Smith started learning routines on silks with the gymnastics club team and the Virginia Acrobatics Club when both organizations practiced at the Classics Gymnastics Center in Charlottesville.
“He picked [acrobatics] up so quickly — I was always so jealous of his perfect splits,” said Acrobatics President Renee Han, a fourth-year Engineering student. “I remember during our first performance together … the silks got caught on his face and he was completely covered. But even though he had messed up, that did not stop him. He just kept going with it, laughing and smiling like he usually does, and finished the performance.”
Smith was also a research assistant in the photovoltaic lab and the plant pathology lab at Virginia Tech and studied Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew and Spanish, according to his memorial service announcement. His classmates said Smith was both studious and generous with his knowledge, serving as a University math tutor while unofficially tutoring others with great frequency.
“Even sometimes the night before he had a final of his own, [Hunter would tutor someone] because of his generosity and his love of math,” Ganesh said. “He also was one of the most attentive listeners I've ever met. He would hang on every word you said, no matter how mundane it was, and make you feel like you were the center of the universe.”
Despite Smith’s rigorous athletic and academic schedule, he still left time for friendship and for leisure, his friends said. In his off time, he enjoyed spontaneous singing, karaoke and grabbing a burger at Boylan Heights.
“My favorite memory of Hunter is the night when, last fall, [we] went to the Shea House to study before finals with our friend,” Ganesh said. “Our studying soon devolved into watching stupid YouTube videos together and laughing annoyingly loudly. He … would just burst into song or speak in different languages. He always kept you guessing.”
Smith’s memorial service was held Dec. 23 at St. Paul United Methodist Church at 220 West Main Street in Christiansburg, Virginia.
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