Charles Glass Smith died Sunday, October 6, 2024.
Born March 27, 1938, he was the son of the late Charles Leonard Smith and Margaret Aileen Smith. His wife of 58 years, Vera (Vicki) Gurley Smith preceded him in death in 2019. He is survived by daughters Sarah Ann Wyatt (Frank D. Wyatt) and Patricia Lynn Smith, all of Greenville, South Carolina. In addition he has two grandchildren, Parker Andrew Wyatt and Matthew Stephen Wyatt.
Charles was a native of Valdese, North Carolina and attended North Carolina public schools. During his high school career he earned both scholastic honors and athletic awards. In 1955 he was named to the First Team Western North Carolina Scholastic Football Team. The same year, he earned first team all-conference and honorable mention all-state football honors. He chose to attend Davidson College on a full football scholarship. Charles graduated from Davidson in 1960 with a degree in economics. Later in his life he attended the Securities Industry Institute Management Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1982.
Charles’ employment career began in 1960 as a management trainee with the New York Life Insurance Company in Charlotte, North Carolina where he worked for 5 years in various management roles. In 1965 he was promoted to the firm’s Asheville agency as manager. In 1969, Charles joined the firm of Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith in Asheville, North Carolina as a stock broker. In 1974 he was instrumental in assisting with the opening of a new Merrill Lynch office in Greenville, South Carolina where he serviced small to medium sized institutional accounts and individuals. In 1976 the Robinson-Humphrey Company approached Charles and asked him to join the firm and open a new office in Greenville. Charles joined the Robinson-Humphrey Company, LLC of Atlanta, Georgia in 1977 as a senior vice president and manager in the firm’s new Greenville, South Carolina office. He served Robinson-Humphrey in this role for over 20 years ultimately building the office into one of the leading securities and investment firms in the state. In addition, he was instrumental in establishing and managing satellite offices for the firm in Asheville, North Carolina and Spartanburg, South Carolina. He achieved numerous firm awards during his years of service. Charles retired from Robinson-Humphrey in 1998. After a short retirement of several years he was employed in 2004 by the accounting firm of Elliott Davis, LLC in its wealth management subsidiary as director of asset management. Later on, he also served the firm as president of Elliott Davis brokerage services, LLC. In 2006 Charles once again retired. In his final retirement he continued to serve the NASD (now FINRA) as an arbitrator and was certified to chair arbitration hearings, a position he held for over 15 years.
Civic, charitable and social endeavors were a major part of Charles’ life. He was a member of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce where he served as Chairman of 300 for Greenville, an economic development arm of the chamber as well as a chamber board member. One of Charles’ favorite endeavors was serving on the board of the South Carolina Council of Economic Education where he was chairman for 2 terms. He also was on the board of the Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital Foundation where he chaired the investment committee. Charles served as a charter board member of the Commerce Club. He was a member of the Greenville Country Club, Shadow Oaks Racquet Club and the Poinsett Club. He was a board member of the South Carolina Securities Dealers Association and was elected chairman for 2 terms. In 2015, Davidson College awarded Charles its “Outstanding Alumni Service Award” for his many years of devotion and dedication to the college.
Charles was a great sports fan enjoying Davidson College basketball as a season ticket holder for many years. He was also an avid fan of college football. At age 16 he was introduced to bird hunting and participated in the sport for over 50 years. He also loved shooting sporting clays and fishing.
Memorials should be made to the Davidson Athletic Fund (209 Ridge Road, Box 5000 Davidson, NC 28035) or to Bon Secours Hospice (1836 W Georgia Rd. Simpsonville, SC 29680).