Deceased February 4, 2018
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In Memory
In February 2017 Seward Smith struggled with a bout of the flu that led to “a steep decline” in his health, according to his daughter Alison Vollweiler. Eventually, it resulted in Seward being moved from his beloved waterfront home (with access to the Gulf of Mexico) in Osprey, Fla., to live with Alison in Bethesda, Md., where he died Feb. 4 at age 87.
Class Agent Sandy Strait recalled Seward as “a genuinely nice guy.” Many others will agree.
Seward prepared for Amherst at Stuyvesant School in Warrenton, Va. At Amherst he was rushing chairman of Chi Psi, participated in several sports and was sports director for WAMF. He majored in psychology.
Seward did an Army stint working on training research at Fort Benning, Ga., and went on to earn a doctorate as an experimental psychologist at the University of Rochester.
His career included basic research for the Human Resources Research Office and the Naval Medical Research Institute, man-in-space research at Boeing, teaching and research at Florida State and heading the Army Research Institute’s field unit at Fort Benning.
Seward’s first marriage (to Marilynn) ended in divorce. He was predeceased by his second and third wives, Virginia and Jacqui. He is survived by four children, three stepchildren and seven grandchildren.
Seward was a fine athlete who enjoyed tennis, running, senior softball and power boating well into his retirement years. Tennis was his first love, and he was an active member of the Plantation Tennis Club in Florida. In addition, he and Jacqui took advantage of the many cultural offerings in the Sarasota region, including theater, opera and symphony performances.
He loved Amherst. The college had a “powerful and magnificent influence” on his life, Seward wrote in our 50th reunion book.
George Gates ’53