After retiring from the board at the end of 2025, he’s starting a new chapter in his life - a chapter titled “Retirement.” It’s something he said he and his wife, Deb, are both looking forward to in a lot of ways - playing golf, traveling and visiting his four children and 14 grandchildren.
Still, he’s proud of the time he served Thornapple Kellogg Schools and the accomplishments he’s seen in the district over the years. “When we moved to Middleville and put our kids in TK Schools, we wanted to be involved parents, and we wanted to have an impact on what they were taught. We just wanted to try to be helpful and participating parents,” he said.
Smith grew up in Flushing but found his way to the Grand Rapids area when he attended the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music. Ultimately, he earned a degree from Cornerstone University. He worked at Bradford White for eight years before being offered a job at Steelcase where he worked for 35 years mostly in Human Resources.
While expecting their fourth child, Dave and Deb realized they needed a larger home that they found in Middleville. “We really hadn't thought about Middleville as a destination for us, but we ended up here and we’ve stayed. Middleville is a really great community. You can’t beat the community support or the interest of the community and parents in TK Schools. That’s a huge plus for everyone.”
Through his years on the board, Smith has witnessed that community support through successful bond and millage campaigns. He’s seen the construction of a new middle school, major renovations to the high school and athletic facilities, additions to all of the elementary buildings and a new Early Childhood Center.
“I think we have facilities that are second to none. We always focused on good quality but not extravagance. We wanted to be respectful of the community dollars that were spent on those projects.”
Maybe more importantly than the physical buildings, Smith said he believes his biggest accomplishment isn’t something most people readily see. “For me I think it’s probably having the ability to participate in policy discussions and decisions for the district.”
“I think we made many improvements in education while I was on the board, but with the world changing as it does, there is always more to be done. TK is a great school district and has the ability to prepare our kids to be anything they want to be. And that’s always been my main goal.”
Smith strived to continue his education as a board member. He served in various roles on the board during his tenure including at least 10 years as board president and several years as vice president. He was recognized by the Michigan Association of School Boards with the President’s Award of Recognition when he reached his 25-year milestone. At that time, he had also completed seven levels of professional development and training adding up to more than 120 hours of professional development classes.
The MASB honors board members for seven levels of achievement. The President’s Award is the highest level of recognition requiring completion of six levels of certification and awards, 29 advanced level CBA classes and more than 1,300 education credits.
Smith said he appreciates the recognition he earned, but his time on the board led him to his proudest moments. “My biggest thrills were being able to hand each one of my kids and two of my grandkids their diplomas as they graduated from Thornapple Kellogg,” said Smith.
He said if he could offer some advice to current and future board members it would be simple. “Just always keep in mind, as we tried to always emphasize on the board, that it’s about what’s best for kids. That’s what’s important.”