Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991 TAG: 9102040361
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Smith, a soft-spoken Mississippi native and graduate of the University of Georgia, came to Roanoke in 1960 after 12 years as a personnel supervisor for Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.
A joint resolution has been prepared by Roanoke and Botetourt county supervisors to name the Jack C. Smith Industrial Park for him. The park, located on the boundary between the two counties near Bonsack, was a result of his work through the Roanoke Valley Development Corp. and the Greater Roanoke Valley Development Foundation, arms of the chamber. He was instrumental in the purchase and development of the park.
Smith "performed an extremely valuable service to the business community. He handled economic development and he did a lot of things behind the scenes that he never got credit for," said Robert Glenn, who was chamber president when Smith retired in March 1988.
Smith was the organizer and longtime chairman of Roanoke Industrial Development Authority, the most active body of its type in the state, Glenn said. When conventional financing was not available, the authority handled industrial revenue bonds, creating many small business jobs, he said. "A lot of people have said their companies are here because of Jack Smith," Glenn said.
Jack Goodykoontz, a former chamber staff member, said Smith brought status and participation in state operations and "he brought together local leadership to make the community move."
Smith was chairman of the Virginia 2000 Tourism Committee; a member and former chairman of the Governor's Tourism and Travel Service Advisory Board, past president of Virginia Travel Council and former executive director of Miss Virginia Pageant Inc. and member of the Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission. He was Virginia/North Carolina chairman for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Blue Ridge Parkway and he received honorable mention in the 1990 Virginia Take Pride in America program.
He also was president of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway; a past president of Virginia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives; past president of the National Association of Miss America State Pageants; former chairman of the City of Roanoke Airport Advisory Commission, and former vice chairman of the Virginia Employment Commission Advisory Council.
Smith had served on a number of Roanoke Valley boards and committees, as well as committees of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. In retirement, he was a consultant for the Virginia Division of Tourism, the chamber and the Jack Smith Agency, his son's advertising business.
Surviving are his wife, Melissa Moultrie Smith; a son, Jack C. Smith Jr., both of Roanoke; two daughters, Carroll Cottrell and Claire Cottrell, both of Richmond; his mother, Dora Connor Smith, Atlanta, Ga., and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. John's Episcopal Church, Roanoke. Oakey's Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Boys Home at Covington.
by CNB