Hall of Fame
Gail Cooper Smith was born in St. George and raised in neighboring Washington. She proudly claims to be a seventh generation Dixie-ite. Before graduating from Dixie College in 1961, she was the Women’s Intramural Association President and a member of the College’s first Women’s I.C.A.C. Basketball Team. That year she put in the winning foul shot to bring home the championship trophy from the BYU Invitational. She graduated from Brigham Young University in Physical Education. At BYU she excelled in track and field, holding the long jump record for many years. She also played on the varsity volleyball, basketball and softball teams. Before serving a mission for the LDS church in London, England, she taught at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, Utah. Following her missions, she taught at Woodward Jr. High in St. George, and then married Hyrum Smith in 1966. In 1982, she moved with her family to Centerville, Utah where she was instrumental in starting the Franklin Day Planer business with her husband. While in Centerville, she coached basketball at Centerville Junior High School for three years, winning one regional championship. Raised in a time when a woman athlete was an oddity, she was driven to improve the quality of women’s athletics and how women in athletics are perceived. As a coach, she believes in teaching the fundamentals of any sport in a way that instills important life values and skills in young hearts, as well as joy in the game. Gail is the author of a book entitled “Shadow Fall: Reflections on Nurturing Family Values,” plus many short stories that have been published. In 1995 she was given an honorary doctorate at Dixie State College. She was also member of the Governor’s Initiative on Family Today (GIFT) Board.
