If music is the universal language, then Lee Lane Smith (’89) and her family speak it fluently.
A lifelong educator and current Gifted Education Teacher in Hamilton County Schools, Lee’s journey to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) began with music and a scholarship.
“I took lessons at Cadek with Christine Taussig Sasse and played in the Cadek Orchestra under Mark Reneau,” Lee recalls. “At sixteen, I started playing in the UTC Orchestra while taking violin lessons from Don Zimmer, the violin professor at UTC. I was later offered a performance scholarship to play with the orchestra and the string quartet.”
Lee’s passion for music didn’t just shape her education; it also shaped her family. It was at UTC’s Roland Hayes Concert Hall that she met her husband, Daniel Smith (’93), a vocal performance major.
“Daniel and I met when he was performing in the opera The Masked Ball with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera. He was still a student, and I had just graduated,” she said. “I’ve been a member of the CSO since I was in college in 1986.”
Though making a living as an opera singer proved challenging, Daniel was, in Lee’s words, “a renaissance man.” He owned Choo Choo Carpets, taught music at City High School, sold cars and eventually became a pipe fitter. Still, his love of music never waned. He continued to sing in church choirs and instilled his musical passion in their children, especially Ivy.
Ivy began their studies at UTC as a biology major before switching to piano performance and pedagogy, graduating in May 2025. Tragically, Daniel passed away a year before Ivy’s graduation. In his honor and to celebrate Ivy’s achievements, Lee made a meaningful gift to the UTC Fine Arts Center through the Name-a-Seat Campaign.
“Between the three of us, we’ve probably performed on that stage over 100 times,” Lee shared. “We told Ivy about the named seat at their senior recital last April.”
A third-generation UTC family, Daniel’s mother, Mary Meyer Smith, earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Chattanooga in 1955 and later a master’s degree in Counselor Education in 1988. Daniel and Lee’s other daughter, Sarah Smith Weyler (‘21), is also a UTC alumna with a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning.
Now, as she looks toward retirement from Hamilton County Schools, Lee plans to open her own violin studio—continuing the family’s tradition of sharing the gift of music.
Join the Smith family in leaving a lasting legacy. The UTC Name-a-Seat Campaign allows you to inscribe a name on a seat in the Roland Hayes Concert Hall or Dorothy Ward Theater—supporting student scholarships and ensuring your legacy is part of every performance for generations to come.
