Donald C. Smith

Donald C. Smith, a retired executive of Fitzgerald Advertising Agency, Inc. of New Orleans, was born and raised in New Orleans where he attended Jesuit High School and Tulane University, from which he graduated in 1951. That same year he became employed by Fitzgerald Advertising Agency, where he held positions as illustrator and senior art director. In 1986, he was named president of the agency and in 1992 Chairman of the Board. In 1996, he and his wife retired and moved from their Metairie home of 36 years to enjoy their retirement years in the picturesque community of Covington, LA. He designed their home on South Jahncke with its completion in 2001.

In addition to his advertising career, Mr. Smith was actively involved in the fine-art field as both a painter and sculptor. For over sixty years his art was exhibited throughout the South and Southwest as well as Chicago and New Orleans. In 1993, the New Orleans Museum of Art held a solo exhibition of a collection of his paintings. Mr. Smith was also one of the founders of the New Orleans Art Directors and Designers Association and was its charter president. In 1962, he was named the Advertising Man of the Year by the New Orleans Advertising Club.

Mr. Smith was an active member of the Catholic community. For thirty-six years, he and his wife and their five children lived in St. Angela Merici Parish of Metairie where he not only served as a Eucharistic Minister and Lector, but also contributed his talents to the artistic needs of the parish. He and his wife were also very active members of the Catholic Charismatic movement—giving presentations of their spiritual lives wherever invited. When Pope John Paul II visited New Orleans in 1984, a special mass and youth rally was held in the pope’s honor at the New Orleans Superdome. Mr. Smith was appointed the designer for the unique altar and all other decorations appropriate to the event and its sixty-six thousand attendees. For his many contributions of his talents to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Philip M. Hannan awarded Mr. Smith the Medal of St. Louis. After moving to Covington, he and Josephine became parishioners of St. Peter Parish as well as designing the wall sculptures depicting the Holy Spirit Dove and the Eucharist behind the altar. In 2020, he sculpted the bronze bust of Walker Percy that now sits in the newly renovated Covington Branch Library.

Mr. Smith is survived by his beloved wife of sixty-eight years, Josephine Caraccioli Smith. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Frances Smith, his only brother Jack K. Smith, and a grandson, Jason Hicks. Other family survivors include two daughters, Donna Lee Savoy of Hammond, LA, and Jennifer S. Moosa and her husband David Moosa of Covington, LA, as well as his three sons and two daughters-in-laws, Brett J. Smith and Cindy Smith of Covington, LA, Damian P. Smith and Jackie Smith of Mandeville, LA, and Gregory S. Smith of Slidell, LA. Grandchildren include Jessica Aymami of Metairie, LA, Breton Smith of Covington, LA, Bristie Smith-Hussain of Dallas, TX, Story Moosa of Bowling Green, OH, Ashley Smith of Mandeville, LA, Amber S. Shuta of Valparaiso, IN, Kyle Schaferkotter of Metairie, LA, and Christopher Smith of Modesto, CA. Mr. Smith is also survived by four great-grandchildren: Reed and Travis Aymami of Metairie, LA, Skye Schaferkotter of Metairie, LA, and Charlie Rose Smith of Modesto, CA.

The service will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd New Orleans, LA 70124. Visitation will being at 11:00AM followed by a service at 2:00PM. Burial will be at Lake Lawn Park. The family invites you to share fond memories and condolences at www.lakelawnmetaire.com.