Philip Thompson Smith Endowment

Philip Thompson Smith was born in Evanston, Illinois on March 25, 1964.  He attended schools in Wisconsin and Texas before graduating from Barrington High School, Barrington, Illinois in 1982.  Phil then entered Goshen College, where he found his “roots.”  His paternal heritage stems from the Smith and Bishop families, who have had a long association with the college.

Highlights of Phil’s life at Goshen College were a major in physics, participation on the Judicial Council, a Study-Service Term in China, and hours spent as an announcer, program director, and student manager for radio station WGCS.  While he was “behind the mike,” talking with an audience, Phil became known for his sense of humor.  He graduated in 1986.

Phil returned to Goshen College after SST for one semester to take business courses.  Soon afterward, he joined an accounting firm in Philadelphia and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1991.

In January 1993 Phil took a position with NovaCare, Inc., a provider of health care rehabilitation services.  The NovaCare family remembers him as a young man to be counted on.  One of his colleagues said, “Phil lived the NovaCare values, taking seriously our commitment to ‘Helping Make Life a Little Better.’ ”

Phil was diagnosed with acute leukemia in August 1993.  Aggressive medical treatment failed, and he died one month later on September 30, 1993.