Obituary of Dr. Charles E. Smith

Dr. Charles Edwin Smith, a resident of Ozark, passed away Saturday, April 29, 2023 at his home. He was 84 years old. A memorial service for Dr. Smith will be held 11:00 A.M. Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Ozark First United Methodist Church with Reverend Dr. Billy D. Gaither, Reverend Dr. Jason Thrower and Reverend Melanie Sebastian officiating, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends Saturday in the church from 9:00 A. M. until service time. Dr. Smith was born on January 2, 1939, in Opp, Alabama, to Leon Elbert Smith and Lucille Knight Smith of Opp. A 1957 graduate of Opp High School, Dr. Smith earned his business management degree from the University of Alabama School of Commerce and Business Administration in 1961. Continuing his education at the University of Alabama, Dr. Smith completed post graduate studies prior to being admitted to the University of Alabama School of Dentistry in Birmingham, Alabama, earning his degree as Doctor of Dental Medicine in 1967. Upon completion of his schooling, Dr. Smith served as Captain in the United States Army Dental Corp at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from 1967-1969. Following his military service, Dr. Smith established a dental practice in Ozark where he worked for over 30 years. During his career, Dr. Smith was a member of the Third District Dental Society of the Alabama Dental Association, holding all elected positions. In addition, Dr. Smith was a member of the Alabama Board of Dental Examiners, serving as President in 2003. Dr. Smith also served on the American Board of Dental Examiners, and he served on the Council of Interstate Testing Examiners from 1999-2006, serving as Vice President in 2000. Dr. Smith earned numerous professional honors and awards associated with his dental career and his association with the University of Alabama. He was elected as a member of the American College of Dentists in 2001. He was a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy International Dental Society. Dr. Smith was also honored in 2004 by being elected by past presidents of the Alabama Dental Association as the Most Excellent Fellow. In 2018, the Alumni Association of the University of Alabama honored Dr. Smith with their Distinguished Alumnus Award. He was also chosen and served as Vice President of the National University of Alabama Alumni Association. Locally, Dr. Smith served as President of the Dale County University of Alabama Alumni Association, Chairman of the Dale County University of Alabama Scholarship Committee, Rotary Club member and Ozark Utility Board member. As Chairman of the Dale County Scholarship committee, Dr. Smith worked tirelessly to help establish 30 named endowed scholarships, five of which he personally endowed. His efforts resulted in a total endowment that exceeds $900, 000. These endowments allow every Dale County High School graduate enrolling in the University of Alabama to receive scholarship assistance. Moreover, Dr. Smith has helped Covington County and Coffee County University of Alabama alumni chapters to create scholarship opportunities for students. Traveling the state, Dr. Smith assisted other alumni districts with their scholarship programs. Encouraging others from Dale and Covington Counties in their dental career, Dr. Smith has endowed a yearly scholarship at the University of Alabama Dental School. This scholarship is awarded to a student from Dale or Covington County or to a relative of the graduating Alabama Dental Class of 1967. In addition to his dental practice and community involvement, Dr. Smith, along with his wife Sandy, participated in over 15 dental mission trips to Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, and Belize. Dr. Smith also generously offered pro bono support to local charitable dental clinics. Here is how Major General Peter T. Berry, U.S. Army Retired, describes Dr. Smith’s philanthropy: “If you should stand in the town square in Ozark or somewhere in Haiti or Honduras and shout, ‘Who has Dr. Charles Smith helped?’, be prepared to be run over by a throng! Maybe it will be someone who couldn’t pay for dental work or someone who could pay but needed the work done on Saturday or even Sunday. Maybe it will be someone who could just pay a little bit or needed help in starting a business or advice on any number of things. Maybe it will be someone from a church who needed a hand up or out, a child in trouble, an illness or emergency. Maybe it is someone from the community in a similar circumstance or some child or adult from any one of a half dozen or so countries, thousands of miles away who had never seen electricity let alone a dentist. A dentist there on his own dime to fix their teeth, build a smile or give them tiny hope or maybe a coloring book. Maybe it’s someone from Opp or Dale County going to the University of Alabama because of the money Dr. Smith helped raise for his/her scholarship, or someone in Alabama’s dental school, Dr. Smith has counseled, guided and helped…In short this is a man who had given a huge hunk of himself to his fellow man in so many ways throughout a lifetime…” Dr. Smith was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Ozark where he served on multiple boards and committees. He was also a member of the chancel choir. Personally, Dr. Smith enjoyed golf, fishing, and dove hunting. Bama football was his passion while he also enjoyed Troy University basketball. Dr. Smith is survived by his wife, Sandra Garner Smith; sons, Leon Smith (Valerie) of Valdosta, Georgia, Brett Smith (Melita) of Ozark, and Pate Smith (Mary Katherine) of Montgomery, Texas; granddaughter, Sydney Smith, grandson, Camden Smith, grandson, Grayson Smith (Savannah), granddaughter, Shelby Allen (Jacob), granddaughter, Maggie Smith, and grandson, Wade Baldwin, granddaughters, Mary Charles Smith, Sally Garner Smith, and Anna Katherine Smith, great granddaughter, Mary Blake Smith and great grandson, Parker Dean Allen. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Dr. Charles E. Smith Legacy Endowed Scholarship fund with the National Alumni Association at The University of Alabama. Mail checks to the NAA Scholarship Department, P.O. Box 861928, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35486; or contributions may be made online beginning with “My Gift to Alabama” at https://uanaa.link/Smith