wfn.org | Randy Smith, chairman of Publishing House board, dead at 72

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 10, 2001 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{231}

By United Methodist News Service

Randy Smith, chairman of the United Methodist Publishing House board, died
May 8 in Kerrville, Texas, of a massive heart attack. He was 72.

William Randolph Smith Sr. was an influential figure in the United Methodist
Church, yet he is also remembered as a humble man with a great sense of
humor who embodied the ideal of the Christian servant. As the son and nephew
of Methodist bishops, his Wesleyan roots went deep.

"In many ways, Randy was Mr. Methodist," said the Rev. James W. Moore,
Smith's pastor at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Houston. "He really
was so beloved not only in our church and in Houston but in the jurisdiction
and all over the country.

"He was the exemplary Christian, the exemplary Sunday school teacher, the
exemplary churchman (and) family man," Moore said. "All of those things that
you wish the church would produce, he was that and then some."

Smith and his wife, Ann, were at their retreat home in the hill country
around Kerrville, when the heart attack occurred, according to Moore. The
couple resided in Houston.

Smith was the son of Bishop A. Frank Smith and Bess Smith, and the nephew of
Bishop W. Angie Smith. He practiced law from 1951 to 1991, retiring as a
senior partner from the firm of Vinson & Elkins.

He had a far-reaching impact on the church through a committee that
developed the United Methodist Hymnal. He served on the committee from 1984
to 1988, and the songbook was published in 1989. From 1988 to 1992, he was
chairman of the committee that studied the feasibility of moving the
churchwide Board of Global Ministries out of New York.  

Smith joined the Publishing House board of directors in 1992 and served as
its chairman from 1996 to 2000. He was re-elected chairman for a second term
for the current quadrennium, which ends in 2004. Filling out a biographical
information form, Smith wrote a short explanation of why he wanted to serve
on the board: "Best board & best way to serve the church."

"He brought first and foremost a profound and deep commitment to serve Jesus
Christ that he spoke of with humility but with clarity and deep affection,"
said Neil Alexander, president and publisher of the agency. "He brought a
lifetime of intense involvement in congregational ministries.

"He had a great heart for the mission of the Publishing House in terms of
our goal of providing resources like 'Disciple' (Bible study) and the hymnal
... and reference works that could help people in their Christian walk,"
Alexander said. "And he had a great appreciation for the necessity of the
Publishing House being an efficient and viable self-funding agency through
its operations and sales.

"He brought us a genuine respect for people (and) a sense of the importance
of having a diverse board, in which the contributions of a wide range of
people could be sought and received," Alexander said. "He had a simply
delightful and spontaneous sense of humor and joy in life. ... He was a very
gracious and deft leader of meetings and of debates."

Smith was co-chair of the Publishing House search committee that recommended
Alexander to succeed the retiring Robert Feaster as president and publisher
in 1996.

Smith served as the Texas Annual Conference lay leader and was active at St.
Luke's, filling such roles as chairman of the board and chairman of a
building campaign. For the past three decades, he taught an adult Bible
study class of more than 200 members. He was a delegate to several general
and jurisdictional conferences. He also provided leadership to many
community boards, including that of Methodist Hospital in Houston.

"He had a wonderful sense of humor that he used so beautifully in his
teaching and in his friendships," Moore said. 

The pastor recalled that Smith went bungee jumping at age 67 and planned on
doing so again. The Smiths marked their 50th anniversary last fall by taking
their children to Disney World.

Survivors include wife Margaret Ann Pickett Smith; two sons, William
Randolph "Randy" Smith Jr. of Houston and David Christian Smith of Austin,
Texas; and a daughter, Margaret Moody "Meg" Smith of Houston. Another
daughter, Sherren Bess Smith, died several years ago.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. May 11 at St. Luke's.

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United Methodist News Service
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