Students Celebrate Lake Stith’s 85th Birthday with Special Gift

From Qiaoying Joy Zhou, PhD
NVC Department Chair/Professor
Math and Engineering Department

“Lake Stith just celebrated his 85th birthday. His students actually made T-shirts for him, which I thought was a very touching gesture. It demonstrates their love and care for him.

Lake has been teaching with us (part time) for about 15 years and is beloved by everyone in the department. He not only shares his knowledge in math with his students but also imparts wisdom from his life journey. Lake has also established an outstanding rapport with his colleagues. We are very fortunate to have him as part of the team.”

Lake Stith’s bio: 

Lake Stith was born 1 Oct 1940 in St. Louis Missouri.  His parents were Houston Stith and Geneva Stith. He graduated from elementary school in 1954 and completed high school in 1958. His father died when he was 12 years old and his mother died when he was 17 years old. God placed relatives in his space to help him become a Christian man.  He worked a job at a restaurant all during high school and was able to save enough money for two years of college. He was able to work during the summers, receive scholarships and grants to complete college. He received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1963. After college his first job was an Electrical Engineer for McDonnel Douglas Aircraft Company. He designed electrical systems the F-4 fighter Aircraft.

As the Vietnam war escalated in 1966, he joined the USAF. He entered Officers Training School and went on to retire as a full colonel in 1992. He served 26 and a half years as a computer and communications officer. While in the Air Force he went to night school and completed an MBA degree from the University of Nebraska in 1975. After retirement, he worked for a defense contractor Lockheed Martin as a program manager for 15 years.  He then joined the Math department of Northwest Vista College as an adjunct professor in 2009.

He will have completed 15 years in Jan 2024. He is now 85 years old. He continues to teach to help the students with their basic math foundation. Additionally, he wants to pass on the benefit of his life experiences and how they relate to math to the students.  Because he is a Christian and believes in God. He realizes that God gave him a gift to understand Math and that God wants him to share his gift with others. Most of all he wants God to use him as a vessel to do his will.