Leslie Eugene Smith

He was born August 22, 1927, along with his twin sister, Emogene Dorothy Smith. It was a difficult home delivery in rural Tipton County, Tennessee. According to family lore, the grateful parents (Clyde Estes Smith and Emma Maurine Wiseman) named Gene after Dr. Leslie, who kept both mother and babies alive.

The family grew up at First United Methodist Church in Memphis TN. He graduated from Memphis Technical High School and obtained certification in architecture as well. His father loved to tell stories about pulling tree stumps from fields with mules for 50 cents per day as a young man. Clyde moved the family to Norfolk, Virginia where he signed on to learn pipe fitting in the US Navy shipyards. After WW II, Maurine, Clyde, ‘Brother’ and ‘Sister’, returned to Memphis where Clyde found work at Memphis Light Gas and Water.

Not quite 18yo, Gene served in a sniper unit of the US Army in WW II, clearing out the remaining enemy in the city of Berlin, Germany after the surrender of the Axis in Europe. He was called back into the Army during the Korean War and led a company of men who built airfields all over the Southwestern USA. He laughed when he told the story about the airfields, because he said they received no instructions and they had it make it up as they went along. This became his forte in life: figuring it out as he went along.

While in the service, he met Phoebe Ann Van Allen in Tucson AZ, and they married soon after. She was living in Tucson after finishing college for her first job, teaching music in a local school. She grew up in Minnesota and had earned a B.A. in Music Education. They moved back to Memphis and had three sons, Leslie Eugene Smith Jr. MD (wife Leslie S Atwood), Jeffrey Van Allen Smith (wife Gina), and Douglas Brent Smith. His grandchildren are Elizabeth Grace Atwood Smith and Benjamin Sinnett Atwood Smith. Phoebe died about 16 years ago from Alzheimer’s disease. Gene was her primary caretaker during this difficult time. Doug, his youngest son, shared an apartment with him after her death, and watched over him until near the end.

Gene worked for over 45 years with Walk C. Jones and companies in Architecture. He was the company's Field Architect supervising the building of hospitals, schools, banks and many local churches. For example, Holy Communion Episcopal Church, additions at the Hutchison school, both Methodist and Baptist Hospitals, the original buildings at Christ United Methodist Church, additions to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, and the Southern College of Optometry. If the contractors did something wrong, Gene was the one who told them to tear it down and start over.

He enjoyed his dogs, volunteering as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, and being his own handyman/mechanic.

In the last decade of his life, he came to find meaning and love at Calvary Episcopal Church in Memphis Tennessee. Community Breakfast, Thistle and Bee, and the Music at Calvary were his favorite interests.

Special thanks and gratitude are offered to the staff at the Tennessee State Veterans Home in Humboldt, Tennessee for their care, compassion, and expertise during Gene’s last months.

His family plans a small private service after Easter at Calvary Episcopal Church. They ask that memorials be directed there as well.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.GeorgeASmithandSons.com for the Smith family.