Longtime State College resident Charles H. “Skip” Smith ’48 Eng left his mark on the community he loved through his repeated philanthropic support of one of the university’s crown jewels: the Arboretum at Penn State.

With a great appreciation for regional plant life, Smith made his lead gift in 2007 that helped ensure the construction of the Arboretum’s H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens, named for Skip’s father. He followed that gift with other significant donations to the Arboretum that led to the creation of the Childhood’s Gate Children’s Garden, the Pollinator and Bird Garden, the Margery Enes Smith Soaring Waters, and the Charles H. “Skip” Smith Soaring Waters Fountain Garden, planned for the Arboretum’s Park Avenue entrance.

In addition, Smith gave $5 million to support brain repair research in the Eberly College of Science. “He was so happy and fulfilled humbly giving something back to the town that he loved and had given him so much,” says son Jeffry. 

Smith owned and operated State College TV on Allen Street, bringing technology and innovation to the community as one of the area’s first television retailers, who also sold radios, stereos, and other audio and visual equipment. 

After his first wife, Joan Milius, died in 1965, Smith continued to give their three young boys a happy childhood. He later found love with Margery Hofstra, whom he married in 1975, blending their lives and 10 children until her death in 2002.

Smith found joy in supporting the arts, local theater, and Penn State sports. He especially loved women’s basketball and women’s volleyball, the latter celebrating their 2024 national championship, and was a football season ticket holder since the 1950s. “In over 50 years of attending home football games, he only missed two!” Jeffry says. 

Smith died Dec. 23, 2024, at age 98. He is survived by his youngest brother, Thomas Smith ’54 Eng; three sons, David, Jeffry, and John; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. —Monica Danielle