Gordon Wayne Smith

Gordon Wayne Smith died on March 30, 2020 at 3:29 pm, at the age of 85 in his home in Winterville, after a long battle with Parkinson’s, surrounded by his family, including his wife of 64 years and his girlfriend of 71 (they are the same person.)

At 13 Gordon told Margreate, “I like you” and that was it for both of them.  “Daddy said he knew he wanted to marry her at 13 but it took him 8 years to talk her into it.“  They were married in 1956, they were both 21, and 2 years later, their family started to grow.

Daddy is survived by his daughters, Arlene Williams, Cheryl Smith (husband Wesley Smith), and Deanna Alexander (husband David Alexander).  There are six grandchildren, Zachary (Zach) Alexander, Jessica (Jessa) Alexander, Alex Smith, Jonah Alexander, Eric Smith, and Adam Smith.

Also Daddy’s sisters, Patricia Rawls and Jeanne Brown,  his nephews Mabry Brown and Marc Hermann (wife Monica Hermann) and his niece, Karen Brown, and all their children.  He is preceded in death by his sister, Marilyn Webb, his nephew, Jeff Hermann, his nieces, Tracy Parks and Kimberly Rawls, and his great  nephew, Garrett Bocci.

Daddy also had 2 sons of the heart, Andrew Faust and Rick Lewis. Andrew and Rick both lost their father’s early and Daddy stepped in where he could.  He was there for them and they, including Andrew’s sons, Andre, Alex, A’Darius, Sabian, and Rick’s wife, Melissa, were there for us.

As were many, many of our friends and extended family, plus Daddy and Mother’s nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews,  who cannot be with us at this time.  Your outpouring of love has been a great comfort to us.

They say you are known by the people around you and Daddy was surrounded by some good ones.  Please forgive any omissions, but we would like to thank the many people that were a great help to both of them as they fought this battle.

Special thanks to Todd Pulliam, Jay Staines, Craig Jones, Ed Lord, Pat Graham, Brian Archer, Billy Pittard, Ken Malloee, Denise Ricks, Carla Braswell, Debbie Dangerfield, Rosanna Herren family, the Fleeman family, Holliday family, Landrum family, our in-laws, the Alexander family and the Smith family, to name only a few.

Daddy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the late 90’s although he probably had it for several years before being diagnosed.  He and Mother fought it successfully for over 25 years.  That he lived so long and so well, after being diagnosed, was due to her refusal to give in or to let him give up.

Daddy stated “If I’m going to have this damn disease I’m going to help fight it,” and he signed up for every available Parkinson study; including Tango for Parkinson, and was one of the first accepted into the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) study at Emory Neurology Clinic.

The success of his surgeries helped make DBS a great option for other Parkinson’s patients.  We really appreciate the staff and faculty at Emory, Dr. Delong, Dr. Gross, Dr. Laura Scorr, Shirley Triche and Colleen Peach.

We would like to thank Daddy’s physical therapist of over 22 years, Hank Wright and his chiropractor, Bryan Hooper, and the Water Aerobics instructor, Mary Stakes, as well as the YWCO and Compassionate Care. We would like to recommend these great people and facilities to anyone who has Parkinson’s, they made a huge difference.

Gordon Wayne Smith graduated from Webster HS, in Webster, Florida and then the University of Florida in 1956 (Go Gators!) in Ag Engineering, and then began a 25-year career with the USDA.  He transferred to Athens in 1972 as Assistant Director at Russell Research Center.

After retiring, he and Mother started and ran several successful businesses: growing hydroponic tomatoes, bedding plants, Town and Country Campers and MarGor Properties.  We know Daddy would want to say thank you to all the customers, clients, and vendors that helped make these businesses a success.

He and Mother have belonged to the Tuckston United Methodist Church since the 70’s and we would like to thank the members and staff, they have been a source of strength and fellowship.

Due to the current crises, there will be a private cremation but we will hold a memorial service, to which everyone is invited, later this summer.  Currently we have set up a FaceBook page: Gordon Wayne Smith – Memories, so please post any thoughts, memories, pictures, etc. that you have.  We would all enjoy laughing and crying as we read them.  In lieu of flowers, Daddy and our family would appreciate donations to The Parkinson’s Foundation and Tuckston United Methodist Church of Athens.

Lord and Stephens East, Athens, Georgia is in charge of arrangements.