Francis W. “Boo” Smith, a Gilman School art teacher, dean of students and squash coach who led the school to 10 consecutive MIAA championships, died of cancer Oct. 13 at his Stevenson home. He was 71.

“Boo was a multidimensional person. He was the combination of a high school and college athlete, had a love for art history and was deeply devoted to Gilman,” Henry P.A. Smyth, head of school since 2013, said.

“He had been a student here and then came back to teach and coach. He tried really hard to come back to Gilman when school started this year to prove two things,” Mr. Smyth said. “That he could do his job and that he still had it in him. He never lost his sense of humor and we all appreciated his fighting spirit.

“He was loved and Gilman was the bookend for his life.”

“He was a Renaissance man in so many ways,” John O. Schmick, dean of student life at Gilman, said. “He could analyze the defense of an opposing team or could tell you how to replace a carburetor on a power washer.”

“Boo was a great loyal friend, colleague and confidante,” said John E. Schmick, head of school from 2007 until 2013.

“He was a real school man and a complete person. He was a scholar, an athlete, a teacher and a wonderful family man,” he said “He was a true role model for the boys at Gilman.”

Francis Whitaker Smith, son of Thomas Wilson Smith, a partner in the architectural firm Smith & Veale, and Elizabeth Culver Smith, a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Stevenson.

Mr. Smith was a descendant of U.S. Senator and Major Gen. Samuel Smith, a defender of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.

Known as “Boo,” a childhood nickname, Mr. Smith entered Gilman in 1956 and developed into an award-winning athlete.

At his graduation in 1970, he was presented with numerous trophies for his athletic accomplishments.

At the University of Virginia, he continued playing lacrosse and wrestling.

As a defenseman, Mr. Smith — who wore No. 13, his lucky number — was a member of the varsity lacrosse team that took the Cavaliers to their first National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 1972 when they beat Johns Hopkins University, 13-12, and as a result was named an All-American and the recipient of the William C. Schmeisser award for outstanding defensemen.

After earning both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in education from Virginia in 1975, he began teaching history at the John Carroll School in Bel Air, where he was remembered for roller-skating through its halls.

He was later named dean of students and wrestling and lacrosse coach. From 1978 until 1996, as varsity lacrosse coach, he led ten teams to championships.

In 1980, he was named The Baltimore Sun’s Maryland Scholastic Association Coach of the Year, and three years later, Harford County Lacrosse Man of the Year. Further honors followed when he was inducted into the John Carroll Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

After 22 years at John Carroll, he returned to his alma mater Gilman in 1997 where he taught art history, was dean of students, and coached wrestling, lacrosse and squash.

“When you’re dean of students, you need a great sense of humor,” John E. Schmick said. “Boo was tough when he had to be, but he was mostly tender. He cared for the boys and was always fair.”

“As a disciplinarian, he wanted students to learn from their mistakes and they understood where Boo was coming from and they loved him. Kindness was something he always displayed throughout his career,” John O. Schmick said.

As head squash coach, he led his teams to ten consecutive Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championships without losing a single match and posting a 130-0 record.

In 2016, his team finished 13th in the nation in the U.S. High School Team Squash Championships held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

“We were strong all the way down the line, players one through seven,” Mr. Smith told The Baltimore Sun at the time. “They are all very talented players.”

In addition to his coaching abilities, Mr. Smith enjoyed photographing varsity sports and “posting them on the community bulletin board and online for all students,” family members said.

“He stayed connected to Gilman until the day he died, a mainstay in the community for teachers, students and alumni,” according to a biographical profile submitted by his family.

Mr. Smith had not retired at his death.

His future wife, Susan Senft, followed him to Charlottesville for school, the second year women were allowed into UVA. The couple married in 1973, and later moved to Stevenson where they raised two daughters.

Mr. Smith enjoyed arranging family adventures, canoeing and tubing in the Susquehanna River.

He also liked riding his tractor and creating landscapes of flowers and trees, family members said.

Because of his interest in his ancestor, Gen. Samuel Smith, he was a lifetime member of the Society of the War of 1812 in Maryland.

Mr. Smith was a communicant of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Owings Mills.

Plans for a celebration-of-life gathering to be held at Gilman are incomplete.

In addition to his wife of 50 years, a retired nursery school administrator, Mr. Smith is survived by his two daughters, Margaret Whitaker “Maggie” Smith of Chevy Chase and Helen Culver Smith of London, England; a sister, Margaret Smith Green of Stevenson; and four grandchildren.