Mr. Orville Stanley Smith Jr.

COLUMBIA Memorial service for O. Stanley Smith Jr., 91, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, 2015, at Trenholm Road United Methodist Church. The family will have a reception in the church dining room following the service. Burial will be private. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Mr. Smith died Sunday, May 3, 2015. Born in Columbia, he was a son of the late O. Stanley Smith Sr. and Learmont “Monti” Stieglitz Smith. During World War II, he was an artillery officer in the 75th Infantry Division. He fought with distinction in the Battle of the Bulge, among other battles. Mr. Smith was awarded the Bronze Star and later the French Legion of Honor, France’s highest military honor. After the war, Mr. Smith returned to Columbia and in 1948 married Constance “Connie” Edwards. The couple started the Constan Car Wash (Con for Connie, Stan for Stan). In 1961, he was tapped by then-Gov. Fritz Hollings to head a commission charged with developing a state technical college system. He later served as chair of the State Advisory Committee for Technical Education. In 1964, Mr. Smith joined the effort to establish a zoo in Columbia. With the help of famous zoologist and television personality Marlin Perkins, he purchased a tiger cub as the first animal for the Riverbanks Zoo. Mr. Smith served terms as president of the USC Touchdown Club and Tipoff Club. In the 1970s, he served as President of the Fripp Island Development Corporation. Mr. Smith also became chief executive and chairman of Standard Federal Savings and Loan. His awards and honors include Outstanding Young Man of the Year, Chairman – Columbia Sertoma Club, South Carolinian of the Year, B’nai B’rith Award, Cauthen ETV Award, Humanitarian of the Year, Chairman of the Columbia Bicentennial Committee, Columbia Music Festival Lyre Award, Verner Award and Chairman – United Way International. He served on the board of Bell South and Mutual of America and held honorary doctorate degrees from USC and Wofford College, where he served as a Wofford trustee. However, he considered his contribution to the state’s technical college system as his proudest achievement. Surviving are his wife, Constance E. “Connie” Smith; children, O. Stanley “Chip” Smith III, and wife, Mardi; R. Grant Smith and wife, Anne; F. Houston Smith and wife, Wendy; six grandchildren, Graham Smith, Stan Smith IV (Mary Douglass), Mardi Fair (Banks), Connie Cathy (James), Janna Laughridge (Joey), Grant Smith Jr. (Elizabeth); eight great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a brother, Jim Smith and two sisters, Elizabeth Drake and Freida Smith. Memorials may be made to Riverbanks Zoological Society, 500 Wildlife Parkway, Columbia, SC 29210.