Family Matters
Together, Regent Emerita Veronica Latta Smith (AB ’48) and her late husband Stewart G. Smith (AB ’49, JD ’52) supported all six of their children in attending Michigan. From 1970 to 1989, Stewart and Veronica provided their children with the financial support they needed to earn a combined nine U-M degrees. Today, the family shares a long-standing bond with the university, with more than three dozen degrees across three generations and five current students working toward their own U-M commencement dates.
To celebrate their parents, the Smith siblings created the Stewart and Regent Emerita Veronica Latta Smith Scholarship for Siblings to support families with multiple children attending Michigan. Patrick A. Smith (AB ’76, MD ’80, MedRes ’85) and S. Gregory Smith (AB ’74)—the scholarship’s founding sons—said their parents’ hard work and personal sacrifice inspired the gift.
“At one point, there would have been four of us here at the same time,” Gregory recalled. “Between professional school, medical school, and undergraduates, that’s many years of tuition. It was a tremendous amount.”
He added that the siblings felt the best way to thank their parents was by helping families like theirs. “This is a unique scholarship as it recognizes the parents as well as the students. We saw how difficult it was and wanted to acknowledge their sacrifices and start to make this easier for families in the same situation,” he said.
Before Stewart passed away in March 2015, the siblings were able to present the scholarship to their parents as a token of their shared gratitude.
“We were just thrilled that they’re giving something back—something that will live on,” Veronica said. “The first thing Stew did was to put in a donation that was exactly the amount each of the boys had put in, to show his love and respect and thanks for what they had done.”
“Dad was sometimes a man of few words,” Patrick recalled, “but education was an extremely important part of his background, and he pushed all of us to excel. To have a scholarship in their name that allows kids to come here, I think he was really happy.”
For the siblings, one of the most rewarding parts of sponsoring the scholarship has been honoring the traditions of their hardworking parents.
“They were both always very practical,” Patrick said. “It wasn’t about titles or notoriety, it was just ‘do the right thing.’ I know that was mom’s priority on the board of regents.”
“Another part of it is also to give back to Michigan for how it helped all of us in getting where we are,” he added. “If we can help families in getting their kids to school too, then I think it’s well worth it.”
PHOTO CAPTION:
TOP: Alisa Lyons (AB ’83), Glenn Smith (AB ’85, JD ’89), S. Gregory Smith (AB ’74), Patrick A. Smith (AB ’76, MD ’80, MedRes ’85. BOTTOM: Jack Lyons (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts 2017), Casey Lyons (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts 2019), Regent Emerita Veronica Latta Smith (AB ’48), Samantha Lyons (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts 2016), Shelby Smith (School of Kinesiology 2016), Doug Smith (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts 2016) Children of Veronica and Stewart not pictured: Alison Hurley (BBA ’81), Paul Smith (BBA ’80, MBA ’84)