Lemuel Smith

Lemuel (Lem) Alexander Smith, Jr. passed away on Saturday afternoon, May 17, 2008. He died peacefully at his home in Clarkton with his beloved family by his side.

Mr. Smith was a World War II veteran, and graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Lem had a long and active career in business as a car dealer, oil distributor, and textile executive in Bladen County. He retired in 1995 as budget officer and assistant director of the Division of Services for the Blind in Raleigh.

Lem's great passions were his community, his church, and his family.

Active in civic affairs, Mr. Smith served as a member of the selection committee of the John Motley Morehead Foundation, Bladen County Board of Education, Bladen County Hospital Board, advisory board of People's Savings and Loan Association, Clarkton Town Council, and the Clarkton Lions Club. He was twice elected Mayor of Clarkton (1953-57 and 1968-71), chairman of the Farmer's Day Committee (1954), and recently served as chairman of the Clarkton Zoning and Planning Board.

A lifelong member of Clarkton Presbyterian Church, Mr. Smith was a devoted Sunday School teacher and superintendent, deacon, and elder. He also served as a member and chairman of the Wilmington Presbytery Council, moderator of the Wilmington Presbytery, and in recent years was a delegate to the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic.

Family was always a central part of his life and he drew great joy from teaching his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and numerous of their friends to water ski at White Lake and the Intra-Coastal Waterway. Saturday night steaks on the grill with family and friends was a decades long ritual now traditionalized by much of his extended family. Relaxing and visiting ("porchin") on the long front porch of his home was another family staple. In the past five years, he never missed a chance to lead the cheering section for his granddaughter Annalie's figure skating competitions.

Lem is survived by his wife, Opal Gray Meggs Smith; daughter Kelly Gray Smith Ricketts and husband Curtis D. Ricketts of Clayton, NC; son Lemuel Alexander Smith, III and wife Donis Noe Smith of Wilmington, NC; granddaughter Annalie Kelly Gray Ricketts of Clayton; and step-grandson Nicholas John Noe of Charlotte, NC.

He is also survived by a brother, Charles David Smith and wife Betty Jo Smith of Plant City, Florida, sister-in-law Annabelle Smith, of Charlotte, NC; sister-in-law Marilyn Meggs Lewis and husband Sonny Lewis of Jamestown, NC; brother-in-law Dale Preetorius of Martinez, Ga.; brother-in-law Norwood Lesane Meggs of Clarkton; 18 nieces and nephews, and 42 grandnephews and nieces.

The family will receive family and friends at Bladen Gaskins Funeral Home in Elizabethtown on Monday evening from 6:00 to 8:00pm.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00am Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at Clarkton Presbyterian Church. A private family burial will precede the memorial service at 10:00am at Clarkton Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Clarkton Presbyterian Church, PO Box 663, Clarkton, NC 28433; and Community Home Care and Hospice, 411 S. Poplar Street, Elizabethtown, NC 28337.