Beverly Smith-Lopez: Dead at 45

She was an actress, dramatist, comedienne, educator, administrator and a dozen other things to do with the arts…but above all, Beverly Smith-Lopez was a uniquely Belizean personality. Tonight she is dead. Smith died of heart complications just before noon today at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where she had been admitted since the weekend. Last year Smith underwent open-heart surgery in Canada, and her health appeared to rebound. But during the summer her condition deteriorated and on two occasions she had to seek emergency medical attention. With the formal title of Director of Culture since 1994, Miss Bev was herself a cultural icon, very much in the same category as predecessors George McKesey, Gladys Stuart and Edison Coleman. During the 1970s she became involved with the Square Peg Drama Group. Upon completion of studies at Santa Clara University in California, she took a post at the Arts Council as Drama Coordinator, before moving up to the directorship. Bev worked closely with us at Channel 5 from our earliest broadcasts and also appeared in numerous television productions and advertisements. Smith-Lopez is survived by husband Andrew, son Troy and parents Hazel and Earl Smith. Beverly Smith-Lopez, dead at forty-five.