Alumni Spotlight: John B. Smith
Engineering Draftsman remembered for his passion for woodcraft
Woodworking studies, 1990
John B. Smith: A Legacy Crafted in Wood and Generosity
John B. Smith believed in learning by doing and in leaving things better than he found them. Though he lived a modest and largely private life, his legacy lives on at Cerritos College. It stands prominently etched not only on wooden plaques beside well-worn machines, but in the lives of students whose futures have been and will continue to be shaped by his extraordinary generosity.
Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, John B. Smith later made his way to California, graduating from North High School in Torrance in 1962. Smith, who took woodworking courses at Cerritos in the 90s, worked as an engineering draftsman in the aerospace industry for a decade before opening a custom wood shop, which he still owned at the time of his death in 2015.
He lived on an oak-filled ranch in the rolling hills of Paso Robles in his final years, and passed away just shy of his 71st birthday. Smith had no children. Beyond his mother, Wiletta Smith—who later passed away in 2018 at the age of 95—he had no other heirs.
In 2019, the College received a $2.3 million bequest from Smith’s estate – the largest in its history. Through this historic gift, the John B. Smith Scholarship Fund was established to support students in the woodworking program.
In addition to his legacy gift, the College received a donated drill press, bandsaw, and the rest of his woodworking equipment. Today they stand in the demo lab in Room WD3 on the Cerritos campus, a lasting testament to Smith’s passion for woodworking. Each bears a wooden plaque proudly inscribed: “Donated by former student John B. Smith, March 9, 1944 – March 8, 2015.”
For more than four decades, Cerritos College has offered woodworking courses, providing students hands-on experience in over forty classes, from cabinet construction and CNC woodworking to architectural millwork, table and casegood construction, hand tools, woodturning, and veneering.
The Cerritos College Foundation proudly carries forward John B. Smith’s legacy, ensuring his generosity and love of woodworking continue to inspire students for generations to come.