Brenau president: Judge Smith 'perhaps the most thoughtful person I've known'

GAINESVILLE - Brenau University President Ed Schrader says Judge Sidney O. Smith, Jr., who chaired the presidential search committee that brought Schrader to Brenau, was "perhaps the most thoughtful person I have ever known."

Judge Smith, who died early Saturday at the age of 88, was the fourth generation of his family to serve on the board of trustees at Brenau University and at the time of his death was still an active member. (See separate story.)

"Judge Smith was a classic southern gentleman and a scholar," Dr. Schrader continued. "He carried on the his family's legacy of leadership at Brenau with integrity, enthusiasm, and energy."

Schrader said that in many ways "he was our moral and intellectual compass. He will be missed and remembered but never replaced. It was indeed very rewarding that he was able to see the graduate school carry his name forward, passed on through many new generations of students."