Cecelia Todd Smith

Cecelia Todd Smith, 82, of Tallahassee and Jacksonville, died at midday Wednesday June 22, at Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center, where she was treated for congestive heart failure over a few days. She was two days shy of her 83rd birthday.

Cecelia, born June 24, 1933 was the younger of two daughters born to Catherine Sompayrac Todd, of Charleston lineage, and Dr. John I. Todd, a prominent Jacksonville dentist who hailed from Rome, GA. Both predeceased Cecelia as did her sister Catherine (“Kitty”) Clark, of Lynchburg, VA and their brother John Jr., a Jacksonville lawyer.

Cecelia attended Jacksonville public schools and graduated as Honor Society president from Robert E Lee High school in 1951. In Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (now Randolph College), Lynchburg, VA., she was a member of Chi Omega Sorority and named in “Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.” In those years she was also a member and later president of the Junior League of Jacksonville.

Cecelia is survived by her husband of 57 years, Robert P. Smith, Jr., whom she married June 13, 1959 in Riverside Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Dr. Albert J Kissling presiding. Their firstborn, Todd Carper Smith, became a journalist focused on foreign affairs and was killed in Peru by band of Sendero Luminoso guerillas while preparing his Tampa Tribune story on the “Shining Path” insurgency there. Her elder daughter, also named Cecelia, is a Florida lawyer and the younger, Carolyn, is a professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist Univ. in Dallas.

Cecelia’s remains after Tallahassee cremation will be committed to the sea at the longtime oceanfront residence of the couple on Duval Dr. in Jacksonville Beach. Clergy of Christ church, Ponte Vedra (Episcopal) officiating. A memorial service will be announced later, to be held in Tallahassee at St. John’s Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers pls gift W&LU’s Todd Smith Mem Scholarship Fund, Lexington VA 24450. Thanks, family.