| 3.20.2003
Dennis Smith, 36; 'One-wheeler' a kid at heart
Dennis Smith taught himself how to ride a unicycle when he was 5 years
old, and he was still riding one at age 36, up and down Calder Street
in Pawtucket, where he lived with his folks, and charmed the neighborhood
children.
"They just watched him," said his mother, Doris Smith, 69.
"They were all eyes. He tried to jump the curb and do tricks. And
they would clap for him."
It was typical that Dennis would be the one adult on the block who'd
go outside to have a snowball fight with the children, as he often did
this winter. You could say that, at 36, he was still a kid himself.
He was a worker of wood, a landscaper and an expert player of pool. Mostly,
he was a son, a brother, a friend. You could say Dennis Smith had kids
of his own if you counted all the neighborhood children.
Richard DeAndrade was Dennis's best friend -- and certainly his oldest.
Everyone knew them as a constant pair, Dennis and Richie. They hung around
as kids, and though Richie is married, they hung around almost daily as
adults, both living on Calder Street.
Starting at age 10 or so, they skated just about every weekend at the
old Bobby's Rollerway on Newport Avenue, before it was turned into a banquet
hall.
Richie recalled how Dennis, even into adulthood, would unexpectedly appear
at parties dressed as a clown, sometimes with his unicycle, just to give
everyone a kick. The unicycle, though, was his main thing. It gave him
the nickname, "One-wheeler."
A huge heart, one friend said. A prankster. Always laughing. You know
those people where everything gets a lot more fun once they show up? That
was Dennis.
He loved to go out, and always seemed to run into people he knew. "He
was Pawtucket," one friend said.
Dennis and his dad, Leo, spent countless hours in a workshop in the home
they shared, and Dennis was always generous with his carpentry skills.
Thomas Benevides was a neighbor of Dennis's on Calder Street. Last year,
Benevides decided to put an addition on his home, doing the work himself.
Dennis began to help him, carrying some lumber. The next day, he was there
again, and the next, ultimately seeing the project through for months,
for no reason except that's what Dennis felt a neighbor does.
"True friends don't come into your life that much," said Benevides.
"Dennis was a true friend."
That extended to all the neighborhood kids: Amanda, Cassie, Tommy, David,
Richie, Brendon, Colin, Greg, Jay and Alex. They all signed a card at
his funeral, fixed beneath a floral arrangement made to look like a stack
of snowballs.
A kid himself, everyone said of Dennis Smith.
A kid forever.
-- Mark Patinkin
2.27.2003 -- Mark
Patinkin: Dennis Smith will always be remembered as a fun-loving free
spirit
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