Hubert L. Smith, Sr., 73, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Tuesday, March 26, 2019, at his residence.
Graveside services will be held 2 PM, Thursday, March 28, 2019, at New Bethel Cemetery in Ben Hill County. Family members will officiate. His brother, Rev. Herschell Smith, will offer the closing prayer.
Mr. Smith was born September 10, 1945, to the late Marcus Luke & Mae Grantham Smith, at the end of New Bethel Church Road in Ben Hill County and was raised in the New Bethel community. He graduated from Ashton High School and served his country honorably in the National Guard. He worked as a route salesman for Flowers Baking Company. Together with his wife, they owned and operated Jan’s Grocery in Fitzgerald for many years. He later worked as a service repairman for Fleetwood and retired as maintenance supervisor for Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service. Mr. Smith loved to fox hunt and enjoyed working with the land. He loved his community and the friends and neighbors he lived around. He was of the Holiness faith.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Janice Royals Smith of Fitzgerald; children: Lisa Smith Martin, Luke Smith, Regina Smith, Hubert Smith, Jr., and Michael Smith; grandchildren: Chrissie & Jordan McCurdy, Cheyenne Martin, Chance Smith, Cody Smith, Cassie Smith, Sherrie & Dan Thompson, Lindsey Carver, Leslie Carver, and Haley Griffin; seven great-grandchildren; two brothers: Rev. Herschell E. & Margaret Smith and Virgil O. & Elizabeth Smith; and one sister, Charlene Elaine & Steve Foster, all of Fitzgerald. Many nieces and nephews also survive. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a grandson, Kristopher Waylon Smith; three brothers: Milton Marcus Smith, Joseph Walter Smith, and Charles Arvin Smith; and two sisters: Jessie Mae Terzino and Dorothy Nell Tresslar.