Feb. 28—After James E. Ward Agricultural Center Director Quintin Smith, 69, passed away on Sunday, the Wilson County Commission took a pause Monday evening to remember him.
“Before we start our meeting tonight, it was about this time last night that we lost a good man in Wilson County by the name of Quintin Smith,” County Mayor Randall Hutto said.
Smith served as a county commissioner from 1976-1978.
“I’d say he gave his all to Wilson County through agriculture, through the James E. Ward Agricultural Center, through politics, getting things done, through loving his family,” Hutto said. “He was a worker, and he was a giver and if you knew him well, he had a heart bigger than Texas.”
According to the Wilson County Human Resources Department, Smith became the director of the James E. Ward Agricultural Center on December 11, 2017.
“He ran the James E. Ward Agricultural Center like a well-oiled machine,” Hutto said. “I can’t remember many times that that place didn’t look like a golf course. His famous words — as you remember — are ‘I just hate trash.’ That was his words.”
Hutto said that Smith was constantly at the agricultural center, and that he was devoted to his job.
“I signed his timesheet every two weeks, and it’s amazing the amount of time that he gave to that place,” Hutto said. “You’ll never replace a Quintin Smith. That won’t happen.”
Prior to the invocation and pledge, the commissioners and members of the public in attendance stood in a moment of silence for Smith.
Sheriff Robert Bryan also acknowledged Smith’s passing during his report to the county commission.
“As the mayor said before, Quintin was my friend, and he did have a heart as big as Texas,” Bryan said. “He helped me out a lot, and he’s helped several of y’all out in this room. I’ll miss him and them shoes are going to be hard to fill. Our thoughts and prayer goes out to his family.”
After announcing that the audit had been completed, Finance Director Aaron Maynard had some words to share about Smith.
“I also just wanted to say how much I personally will miss Quintin,” Maynard said. “He spent some time in my office telling stories, and (he’s) a wonderful man, and I will miss him terribly.”
Weapons detection systems in place at Wilson Central
The Wilson County School District has begun implementing weapons detection systems at Wilson Central High School.
“We started a couple weeks ago at Wilson Central and it’s a challenge in these big high schools of running everybody through,” Director of schools Jeff Luttrell said. “The day I was there, I was there for training and just dropped in on a Friday morning, and they were 15 minutes late getting the final student through. That was really due to late buses.”
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