Members of the Ceres community crowded into the Tuolumne River Lodge on River Road in Modesto on May 7 to celebrate the life of former Ceres High School coach Scotty Smith.

Family, friends, colleagues and former players bonded over shared memories of Smith, who passed away at the age of 55 of liver cancer during a family trip to Washington on April 12.

“It was a really nice night to honor him and share some memories,” said Jimmy Bates, Smith’s nephew. “There were a ton of people there. He definitely made his mark on this community with the time he had on this earth. Whatever this community needed, he was willing to do it with a smile on his face. He showed up. That’s who he was.”

Former Ceres High School Athletic Director Phil de la Porte and CHS football/baseball coach Bret Durossette were among those who spoke during the three-hour celebration (5-8 p.m.).

“I got to know Scotty when he went to Ceres High School,” de la Porte said. “He played freshmen basketball for me. He graduated and came back as a (football) coach after he finished school. From that day on, he was always in Ceres. I had an entertainment business. We did proms and other events. He worked weekends for me for five years. We did a lot of fundraising. We spent a lot of time together. He’s the nicest man I’ve met in my life. In all the years I knew Scotty, he never bad mouthed anybody.”

Friends since the seventh grade, Durossette and Smith were classmates at Mae Hensley Jr. High and Ceres High.

They played football together at CHS and Modesto Junior College.

A longtime P.E. teacher at Ceres High, Durossette added Smith to his Bulldogs’ football coaching staff in 2005. Durossette retired from coaching in 2017.

“He was like a brother,” Durossette said in a past interview with the Ceres Courier. “He was an amazing guy. Nobody was better than Scotty. He’d do anything for you. He loved so many people.”

Country singer Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind” song played as attendees viewed a slideshow featuring photos from Smith’s life.

“It was a hard one to get through,” Bates said. “There were a lot of tears.”

Scotty was born on June 14, 1968, at Emanuel Hospital in Turlock, to Jim and Linnie Smith. He attended Fairview Elementary School in Modesto. After finishing elementary school, the Smith family moved to Ceres where Scotty attended Mae Hensley Junior High and Ceres High School, graduating in 1986. 

During Scotty’s time at Ceres High he was a multi-sport athlete, excelling in football and baseball. He earned the privilege of playing in the Lions All-Star football game his senior year. Following high school, Scotty decided to further his education by attending Modesto Junior College while continuing his football career there.

While furthering his education, he held various jobs at Festival Cinemas, New Deal Market, Budweiser, and Coors, until he ultimately began his career in Ceres Unified School District in 2008. He held multiple positions in the district until he found his calling as the administrative assistant at Mae Hensley Junior High in 2014. Additionally, during the 2019-2020 school year he was named the CUSD Administrative Assistant of the Year.

One of the driving forces in Scotty’s life was being able to give back to the Ceres community. One of the main ways he gave back to Ceres was by volunteering his time and coaching multiple sports at all age levels. Those sports included travel baseball, high school football, and high school golf. When his health began to deteriorate and he could no longer coach, he became more involved in the CHS Boosters Club, ultimately becoming the president. In addition to coaching, he was a Lions Club member for 14 years where he and his fellow lions served the community in various ways.

Scotty also had a great love for his family. When he was younger his family spent treasured time in the mountains camping, hunting, and riding motorcycles. As he grew older, he cultivated many fond memories and love with his family and friends on the softball field. Scotty’s love for softball developed into playing more competitive fast pitch, coed and men’s slow pitch. This time was spent traveling all over with friends and family, which he dearly cherished. Ultimately, his priorities shifted when he became an uncle in 1996. Scotty treasured his relationship with his nephew and niece, as he spent countless hours making Jim and Sis a priority.

In 2016, Scotty reconnected with his former Ceres High School classmate, Jennifer, and their love quickly blossomed into a loving marriage. During this time, his relationship with the Lord deepened and he was baptized in the church. Their blended family included their daughters Morgan, Mallory, and dog Copper. The family grew as Morgan married James in 2021 and Mallory married Corey in 2022. In 2022, Scotty and Jennifer happily welcomed their first grandchild, Lily, to the family. Furthermore, the family is expecting their second grandchild from Morgan and James this year.

“This man, who I was blessed to call my husband, made an extraordinary impact on everyone he came in contact with throughout his life,” Jennifer Smith stated in a post shared on Facebook. “He fought his own health battles for most of his life without complaining. He lived every minute as if he were completely healthy not showing what he was dealing with inside his body.  He was selfless in serving his family, friends, community, the kids he coached over the years and came in contact with at his job as head of discipline at Mae Hensley Jr. High. He told me it was all worth it if he could help save 1 kid and get them on the right track. He did so much more than that.