Arthur F. Smith of Fort Myers, Florida, died on Saturday, June 2 at the Shell Point Retirement Community at age 96. He is survived by his three children: Rosamond Smith Metcalf of Hendersonville, NC; Arthur Smith, Jr. of Penfield, New York; Jonathan Smith of East Longmeadow, MA; six grandchildren; and seven great grandchildren.
Arthur Smith was born in Southampton, New York in 1910, the third of four children of C. Elmer Smith and Eunice Benedict Smith. His father was a prominent local builder who was elected president of the Village of Southampton, and died in the flu epidemic of 1918. Arthur attended Southampton High School and went on to enroll at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1933, during the depths of the Depression, he went to Alabama in search of work and there met Cornelia Kern of St. Louis, Missouri, then a freshman at the University of Alabama. Arthur described the meeting as love at first sight, "My heart rolled over and never stopped. I fell in love not even knowing her name." Their romance resulted in a marriage that began in 1934 and ended after 69 years with Cornelia's death in 2003.
Arthur Smith spent most of his career in the plywood business. He worked for many years for US Plywood Corporation as a sales representative and, after briefly running his own independent plywood company, served as regional Vice President for Oregon-Washington Plywood Company of Garibaldi, Oregon, until his retirement in 1975. He was highly regarded in the industry as one of the preeminent experts in the field.
After his retirement Arthur and Cornelia moved to Florida, ultimately settling at Shell Point in Fort Myers in 1991. There Arthur continued to pursue his lifelong interests in clam digging, fishing and golf. He had the distinction of being the oldest member of the Shell Point Golf Club and played in their league until about a month before his death.
Among family and friends who knew him well, Arthur Smith will be remembered as a man who was sometimes impatient but always gracious; opinionated but caring; imaginative, witty, and possessed of a delightful sense of humor. He was a loyal friend, a loving husband, and a great father. He will be sorely missed.
In lieu of a memorial service, the family is planning a private celebration of Arthur Smith's life at the home of one of his children.
