James Allen "Jim" Smithson passed away peacefully at home on April 30, 2012 after battling a long, courageous fight with Parkinson's Disease. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 2:00 PM at the First Baptist Church Chapel.
Mr. Smithson was born in Toledo, Ohio on August 25, 1933. When he was nine months old, he moved to Atlanta, GA with his mother and sister. He spent his young years on the family farm at Mossy Creek in White County before moving back to Atlanta. He grew up in Atlanta, without a father, in the Techwood Homes Federal Housing Project. It was here that he gained an appreciation for affordable housing and the dire need for organizations like the Boys and Girls Club. He graduated from O'Keefe High School where he was an accomplished basketball player and then attended Young Harris College on scholarship where he was also a basketball star. He continued his college career at Georgia State University by attending night classes. Subsequently, he served two years as a Military Police in the United States Army. Mr. Smithson had strong ties to Young Harris College. During a childhood summer camp at Young Harris, he met his lifelong friend Zell Miller. This friendship led to Mr. Smithson running Mr. Miller's first campaign for public office with the U.S. Congress.
Mr. Smithson learned a strong, unmatched work ethic at an early age in order to help take care of his family. He started working at age nine running a paper route in downtown Atlanta. He also loved to reminisce about working the Tech Football games selling cokes and hotdogs. He worked throughout high school at Jacob's Drugstore as a soda jerk, where he learned to make his famous chocolate milkshakes that he shared with all of his children over the years. He even dropped out of high school for a year to work various jobs including ushering at Techwood Theatre in order to help his mother catch up on bills. As an adult he could never pass the Varsity without stopping
