On the list of best dads, Towson math tutor Tim Smith was at the top

Forget the Billboard Hot 100 songs. This is Tim Smith’s Top 1,000.

The list covers seven decades of music, dozens of genres and hundreds of artists, each entry accompanied by a short description of the song and what makes it great. Last to make the cut was “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas — “How can one resist that famous opening ‘Whoa ho ho ho’?” Smith pondered — and topping the list was “Nostalgia” by Cracker — “it just has it all,” he concluded.

“When you combine my penchant for lists with my love of music from the time I was a young fry, you have the ingredients for a large collection of songs,” Smith wrote in an introduction to the list last year.

The Towson math tutor made lists for just about everything, but this was the crème de la crème. It is a reflection of a good-natured, cheerful man, loved ones said — and a playlist his family will use to keep his memory alive for generations.

Smith, also an avid runner, bicyclist and bird-watcher, died Feb. 4 of pancreatic cancer. He was 67.

He was born Sept. 8, 1958, the youngest of Joy and Dick Smith’s four boys raised in small-town Pennsylvania. He often reminisced about running through the tunnels of West Milton and playing with his dog, Rommel.

He was naturally athletic, playing basketball and running cross-country and track in high school. He never had trouble making friends but always seemed oblivious to his popularity, said his wife, Jane Santoni. He continued running cross-country at nearby Lebanon Valley College, where he studied math, made some of his best friends and drank a lot of beer.

After graduation, Smith taught middle school math but left Pennsylvania after two years for an actuary job in Baltimore. While playing a pickup basketball game at the Downtown Athletic Club, he met Santoni, an attorney on the opposite team. They exchanged business cards.

He bought her a crab cake at Phillips Seafood on their first date, and she questioned him about his voting history. They agreed on progressive politics, and it was pretty much a done deal. They enjoyed watching movies, working out and traveling together.

They got engaged in November 1990. It was an easy decision after Santoni realized “everybody who loves me loves him completely.”

It was Smith’s third time proposing to a girlfriend, and he jokingly called his wife F3 — fiancée three — throughout their relationship. They married Feb. 23, 1991, and settled down in West Towson.

They had three daughters, Christie, Hope and Julianna. After their second child was born, Santoni planned to become a stay-at-home mom — but the same day she resigned, her father was diagnosed with cancer and Smith was fired.

The couple huddled at the dining room table to figure out next steps. Santoni suggested Smith become a math tutor — he was so kind and patient, and he loved the subject. Best of all, they could both work part-time and spend the rest of their time with their daughters.

Many of his students attended The Park School and Friends School, but he also tutored in public schools throughout Baltimore. Some tutors focused on improving grades and test scores, but Smith “was much more intent that the student understand and that they feel good about how they were learning.”

“He wanted to make sure they got the concepts so that they could apply them without the tricks, and I think that’s why people liked him so much,” Santoni said.

But his biggest fans were at home. Every summer, he led “Camp Smith” for his girls. The daily agenda included math workbooks, geography lessons and reading time. They took field trips to the library and pool and went on “junior hikes” at local parks, where they’d identify wildflowers and spot birds through binoculars.

“This man was born to be a dad,” said his daughter Christie Cuglovici Abrao. “He had little jokes or creative whips about most anything. He would get very overly excited at everything.”

He always had a pun at the ready. He named the spoons in their cabinet and would ask at breakfast, “Who gets ‘So Plain It’s Fancy’?” He became “DJ Cleanup” when he asked the girls to each queue a few songs to play during chores. They’d have impromptu dance parties in the kitchen and the basement.

The family also played the “list game.” They’d pick a topic — states, Disney characters, sea creatures — and privately rank them. Smith would tally the results to determine family favorites.

His friends loved his optimism and quirkiness. He sent them handwritten notes and invited them to participate in a yearly music tournament — his version of March Madness brackets. His enthusiasm was infectious, said friend Kay Kerr.

“He pulled us into his universe,” Kerr said. “Whatever he was interested in, pretty soon we were all interested in it. Literally, we didn’t care about birds — and then we’re all coming up with bird books and binoculars and going on bird hikes and making lists.”

Smith best connected with others through music, loved ones said. He played trumpet and guitar. He was an occasional guest performer in his wife’s rock cover band, The Objections, and officially joined a few years ago.

“He knew so much about music,” said bandmate Bob MacDonough. “He must have spent 26 hours a day listening to music.”

He also sang in the choir and played trumpet at First English Lutheran Church. Pastor Sandy Alexis remembers Smith most for his smile and his willingness to help. His faith was a huge part of his life and an enduring comfort during his cancer journey.

“He left such a mark on people who got to know him,” Alexis said. “His shadow is everywhere.”

A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the church, followed by a celebration of life, where the family plans to hand out books listing his top 1,000 songs.

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