THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190278
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Joseph Smith, 75, died on Sunday, July 17, 1994, at his residence in Newport News.
Mr. Smith was a native of Newport News and a Peninsula resident for 75 years. He graduated from Newport News High School in 1936 and from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law of the College of William and Mary in 1949. Mr. Smith founded Joseph Smith, Ltd., Attorneys at Law in 1949. He pioneered the practice of personal injury law on the Virginia Peninsula.
Mr. Smith was a member of several Peninsula synagogues and supported them generously.
He was a 32nd degree Mason in the Warwick Royal Arch Chapter (NU)80. He was also a member of the Peninsula Shrine Club, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and a Master Mason of Hellenic Lodge (NU)0249 in Richmond, Va. Mr. Smith was a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Virginia State Bar Association, Newport News Bar Association and Hampton Bar Association.
Mr. Smith was the first Jewish president of the Interfraternity Council of the College of William and Mary and was the president of Phi Alpha fraternity.
Mr. Smith was a civic-minded philanthropist whose gifts were given anonymously. He endowed the Ernest Goodrich Professorship Fund at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law as well as numerous other charities. He was a member of the President's Council of the College of William and Mary.
Mr. Smith is survived by his wife of 52 years, Marian Sturman Smith; a daughter, Janet Smith Pitler of Norfolk; two sons, Howard Phillip Smith of Newport News and Stephen Mark Smith of Virginia Beach; and six grandchildren, Sydney Smith, Logan Smith, Damon Pitler, Evan Pitler, Ryan Smith and Miles Smith, all of Hampton Roads. He is also survived by a sister, Pearl Smith Caplan of Silver Spring, Md., and four brothers, Percy Smith and Leon Smith, both of Newport News, Herman Smith of Hampton and Mayer Smith of Arlington, Va.
A funeral service, with Masonic rites, will be conducted on Tuesday, July 19, 1994, at 3 p.m. by the Rabbi Norman M. Golner at B'nai Israel Synagogue, 3116 Kecoughtan Road, Hampton, Va. Burial will take place in Hebrew Cemetery. The family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of memorials to the B'nai Israel Synagogue, the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, or a favorite charity. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Peninsula Funeral Home, Newport News.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB