CARRYING THE TUNE

How a father turned loss into a gift that keeps giving for the WVU Mountaineer Marching Band

By West Virginia University

September 9^th, 2025

Nearing 80, Bernie Smith has become a longtime fixture with the West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band. But his connection to the “Pride of West Virginia” runs deeper than most—it's a story that spans two generations of Mountaineers.

The Marlinton, West Virginia, native first came to WVU in 1962, guided by advice from his local pharmacist and his own persistence as a Jerry West fan. He met his future wife, Beverly, in pharmacy school. They married in their senior year and moved to Point Pleasant, where he opened his own pharmacy. A son, Andrew, came along in 1970, followed by a daughter, Andrea, a year-and-a-half later.

At 9, Andrea was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL, that doctors assured the Smiths could be cured. She went through treatment, was deemed cancer-free, but two years later, the disease returned. She did the chemotherapy regimen again and, this time, the cure seemed to take.

Smith recalls that his daughter never let up once she got healthy again. Whatever Andrew did, Andrea followed. Singing in high school talent shows, marching band and then WVU.

Andrea's senior photo at Point Pleasant High School.

Andrea in her marching band uniform at Point Pleasant High School, where she was a drum major as a junior and senior.

After watching every home halftime show in 1989 and 1990, Andrea, who played flute and piano, set her sights on playing bells in “the pit.” She auditioned with a nearly perfect score, but a senior had already secured the position, so Andrea played cymbals. Director Don Wilcox promised that in the next year, the bells would be hers.

“The world was going to open up to her, it seemed like,” Smith said. “She had beaten leukemia and had gone through a couple of relapses, both treatable. But she never complained about stuff like that. She just kept her eyes focused on the future.”

But in late October of her freshman year, she felt a familiar pain in her spine. The moment the doctor returned with blood test results, one expression over a wordless exchange confirmed the family's worst fear: ALL had returned. With that devastating realization, the whole family turned inward, chose Duke University to try a bone marrow transplant and waited. Smith said the doctor gave them little hope for this cure, as only one-in-10 patients ever walked out of the hospital post-procedure in 1991.

During that span between diagnosis and treatment, Andrea had a semester to finish. It was her career pursuit to become a physical therapist, but, for now, she just wanted to beat cancer. Through her door marched scores of her bandmates offering to take notes, retrieve assignments and study with her. Nearly every day, a member of The Pride came to check on her. Wilcox assured her that she was needed in the pit, and that he would help however he could. In the months of her confinement to a hospital room, good wishes continued to pour in.

Cards, postcards and letters became the medicine she needed that her doctor couldn't provide.

Andrea walked out of the hospital determined to make up her classes and return to band camp that August.

She planned to march during football season alongside her peers whose faith had sustained her through those rigorous treatments.

“She lived for the band,” Smith said. “That's what kept her going.”

Andrea made it through two home games, but in October fell ill again. Two weeks later, she died.

Andrea's spot is around the 22-yard line.

Andrea (far right) with her brother Andrew and her boyfriend Matt Brunner, who's now a pediatrician at WVU.

HOW LOVE TRANSFORMED LOSS

In the intervening years, Smith has learned to deal with the grief of losing his only daughter by helping ensure that Andrea's spirit of perseverance and pride continues. The Andrea Smith Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by the Kappa Kappa Psi band fraternity chapter, is awarded annually to an outstanding freshman in the band.

For Shaylee Groves, a senior music education major from Weirton, West Virginia, receiving that scholarship drew a connection to something larger than herself. Like Andrea before her, Groves was drawn to WVU primarily because of the marching band.

“When I was in middle school and then early high school, I remember seeing their pregame for the first time,” she said. “I was like, 'How do they do that? I want to do that.’”

The scholarship application asks one simple but profound question: “What does pride mean to you?” For Groves, answering that question became a moment of clarity about her own journey.

Flutist Shaylee Groves, recipient of the Andrea Smith Memorial Scholarship.

Director of Athletic Bands Cheldon Williams and Shaylee Groves.

“When I heard her story for the first time at the band banquet, I was in tears,” Groves remembers. “And then to receive it, I just cried more tears. It was my first ever big accomplishment in college. And it meant a lot to me because it was through writing what pride meant to me that I was reminded and realized how much I love being in this band.”

The recognition spurred her into leadership. Groves, now in her third year as a drum major, understands the weight of carrying on Andrea's legacy while forging her own path.

No section feels Andrea's presence more keenly than the piccolos. Each year, Smith has a tradition of speaking with the piccolo section about his daughter's legacy, sharing her story with the musicians who play the same instrument Andrea carried through her most challenging times. Through these conversations, Andrea's determination and love for the band continue to influence new generations of Mountaineers.

A shot of the new band practice facility.

Members of the Mountaineer Marching Band at practice.

Sarah Hofecker, the 2025 head piccolo section leader from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, manages 30 members, nearly as large as her entire high school band. An exercise physiology major preparing for medical school, she found in the Pride not just musical fulfillment, but the motivation and community support that kept her driving toward her goals.

“The story is very tragic, because there has been cancer in my family, and I can relate,” Hofecker said. “But also, in ways, it's heartwarming to know that whenever she was going through all of the treatments, the band, even though they only knew her for a short period of time, came in to see if she was doing okay, and just wanted to help.”

For Hofecker and her fellow piccolos, Andrea's story serves as both an inspiration and a reminder of the deeper meaning behind their performances.

“It really shows how great the community in the band is, and that they're going to be friends for life,” Hofecker explained.

Smith has become an unexpected insider to the intricate world of the Pride of West Virginia, a world he has appreciated throughout his daughter's life, but has come to understand for its complexity and dedication.

“Your years of college is not easy, but you need all the support that you can get, and there's nothing like your family support to push you forward,” Smith said. “There you have a lot of friends who are telling you their woes and they're also talking about their happy times, sad times, you can share both of those.”

Members of the WVU Mountaineer Marching Band at the 2025 home opener.

A conductor directs the WVU Mountaineer Marching Band.

The WVU Mountaineer Marching Band performs during the 2025 football season opener, which saw a victory over Robert Morris.

Members of the WVU Mountaineer Marching Band prepare to perform.

Smith reflects on the scope of what his kids, their peers and band members now endure and accomplish. The community aspect that sustained Andrea during her illness, Smith now realizes, isn't unique to crisis moments. It's a simple fact and attitude carried throughout daily band life.

“It's great pride. Great pride,” Smith said while watching the band practice. “It represents the people of West Virginia, not just the University, but all of the people. They command extreme loyalty to the program.”

Watching Groves conduct from the drum major podium, seeing the piccolo section carry forward Andrea's memory, witnessing the tears and joy at band banquets, Smith has found himself amazed by the depth of tradition and care that continues to define the Pride. It's a world that operates on dedication, discipline and an almost familial loyalty that transcends individual seasons or generations of students.

As Groves prepares for her final year and looks toward a career in music education, she carries with her the deeper understanding of what it means to be part of something larger than oneself, a lesson Andrea Smith taught through her impactful life.

The Pride of West Virginia marches on and, with it, Andrea's legacy lives through every student who learns that sometimes the most profound pride comes not from personal achievement, but from relationships that uplift one another, note by note, step by step.