Charles Smith 'had a heart' for North Side

Charles Leo Smith Jr. kept medals from his days as a champion boxer, but his biggest battles -- and victories -- came as a school social worker and community activist in north Minneapolis, where he grew up.

"He aspired to make the North Side a better place to live," said his wife of 22 years, Frances. "He had a heart for the community."

Smith died from blood clots and related ailments Feb. 9 at Kindred Rehabilitation Center in Las Vegas, where he and his wife had lived the past four years. He was 73.

Smith discovered boxing while serving as a chaplain's assistant in the Marine Corps in the 1950s. The North High School graduate won the corps' West Coast heavyweight boxing championship, a precursor to the Upper Midwest Golden Glove heavyweight championship he won in the early 1960s.

"His quickness and ability to throw punches made him an outstanding boxer," said longtime friend Lucius Jemison of Minneapolis.

At the same time he was in the ring, Smith was waging a fight against poverty and racism as vice chairman of the Concerned Northside Residents. He also was president of the Association of Afro American Educators group and a board member at the North Community YMCA and the Minneapolis Urban League.

He earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota in the early 1970s and became a social worker in the Minneapolis public schools. From 1974 to 1980, he had stints at the school district's Work Opportunity Center, Washburn High School and Shingle Creek School.

"He chose education because he wanted to instill in [the students] the importance of getting a good education so they could take their life farther," his wife said.

He moved to Las Vegas and worked in the school system there until he retired in 2006, Jemison said.

In addition to his wife, Smith is survived by his first wife, Kay Smith, of Minneapolis; two sons, Steven and Charles III, both of Minneapolis; three daughters, Tammy Smith and Stephanie Smith, both of Minneapolis, and Kimberly, of Brooklyn Park; a brother, Walter, and a sister, Charlene Crittenden, both of Minneapolis; two stepdaughters, Eleanor Clemmons of Apple Valley and Angela Jones of Las Vegas; a stepson, Gregory Jones of Las Vegas, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.