Alvin Eugene Smithson passed away from a heart attack on Sunday, January 25, 2026, in Leesburg, Virginia. He was 65 years old. Alvin was born in Garden City, Kansas, shortly after dawn on May 3, 1960. As a preacher’s kid, his family moved often, living in Denver, Colorado; Provo, Utah; Castleton, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Oskaloosa, Kansas. These early years shaped his adaptability, curiosity, and deep connection to people and community. Alvin attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence (“Go Jayhawks!”), where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance. After graduation, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he joined the choir of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. It was there that he met his partner and the mother of his daughter, Pamela-June (“PJ”) Thiessen. He later earned a Master of Science degree in Piano Performance from The Catholic University of America in 1989, studying under the mentorship of Dean and concert pianist Thomas Mastroianni. Alvin spent the rest of his life in the Washington, D.C., area performing as a pianist, teaching piano to countless students, serving as a musical director and church pianist, and tuning hundreds of pianos throughout the region. His church work included The United Methodist Church of Spout Run, the Woodbridge Church of the Brethren, and other churches in the area. He played piano for dozens of musicals across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, including with The St. Mark’s Players (his first theater), The Arlington Players, Theatre J of Washington, D.C., and The Creative Cauldron of Falls Church. At The Creative Cauldron, Alvin and PJ Thiessen performed a concert version and workshop of their original musical on Sally Hemings, What Kind of Love. He also worked for many summers—nearly a decade—at TADA Theatre summer camps in Annandale as an accompanist after the turn of the millennium. Alvin accompanied voice classes at the Peabody Institute, where he worked and had the opportunity to know Leontyne Price. He taught music at Hayfield High School, Winston Churchill High School, and other schools throughout his career. Alvin was also a composer. He collaborated with his brother, Forrest Smithson, on the beautiful piece Stony Man Wanderer and composed his own original works, including Toccata Mesa and Thunder Canyon, which reflected both his technical mastery and his deep love of landscape and movement. Alvin once performed as a substitute pianist for a symphony at the Kennedy Center, astonishing the audience by learning the piece in just three days. He also performed near the Smithsonian Castle during a Smithsonian-sponsored festival in the late 1980s or early 1990s, where he shared his family’s connection to the Smithson lineage. While often told with humor, Alvin was in fact descended from a distant cousin of James Smithson, both tracing ancestry to Sir Hugh Smithson, 1st Duke of Northumberland, through the Smithson family line that emigrated from Yorkshire to Maryland. Beyond music, Alvin was an accomplished athlete. He was skilled in surfing, skiing, and rock climbing, and remained physically active throughout his life. His favorite surf spot was Chincoteague Island, Virginia. Just days before his passing, he completed a ski, a rock climb, and a hike. Later in life, he developed a strong interest in astronomy, with Sky Meadows being his favorite location for viewing the night sky. Alvin is survived by his daughter, Michaela Marie (Smithson-Thiessen) Neel, and her husband, Kenneth “Robert” Neel; his granddaughter, Rileigh Neel, who was the light of his life; his brother, Forrest Smithson; his sister, Shirley Smithson; his girlfriend, Cheryl Hobbs; and his former partner, PJ Thiessen. He was preceded in death by his mother, Bonnie Rae Smithson, and his father, Reverend Forrest Richard Smithson. Alvin and his daughter shared many adventures throughout her childhood, traveling together to Santa Fe, New Mexico; Chincoteague Island; New York City; California; and beyond. In his later years, his greatest joy was his granddaughter Rileigh. He taught her to rock climb and spent countless hours immersed in play, creating strong, loving memories that will remain with her always. His curiosity, generosity, and love of music and adventure live on through the lives he touched.