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Posted: Monday, July 25, 2011 2:00 am | Updated: 11:11 pm, Sun Jul 24, 2011.
FREEPORT — John Smith III knew how to volunteer, support his family and serve the city, but friends say he knew most of all how to love.
A former Freeport city councilman, member of numerous community organizations, husband and father, Smith, 61, died Saturday following a battle with cancer.
“He was a family man,” said Sandra Shaw, president of the Brazosport Area Chamber of Commerce. Smith served as that group’s board chairman in 2009.
“He had a wonderful family and they came first,” Shaw said. “He loved his family and he talked about his wonderful wife and children all the time. They were a big part of our lives when he served as chairman. And he loved his community.”
Smith and his wife, Dorothy, were married 39 years this month. The couple has three daughters — Meeca, Jeanelle and Summer.
“He was a tremendous man,” said Gary Beverly, who served as Freeport finance director and city manager during part of the time Smith was councilman from 2000-08. “He was an excellent boss as well, and was a tremendous leader. He always worked hard to do the best he could for the community.”
Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., and lived in Freeport 33 years. Organizations for which he volunteered include the Brazosport Medical Center, Habitat for Humanity, the Carpenter’s Hand, Prevent Child Abuse America, United Way of Brazoria County, Youth and Family Counseling, the Freeport Economic Development Corp. and Brazoria County Cities Association.
He received the 2006 Drum Major award for leadership from the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee of Brazoria County, and was a deacon at First United Missionary Baptist Church in Freeport. At church, he was involved with the youth program, choir, finance committee, praise team and building committee.
Former Freeport Councilman James Saccomanno served with Smith from 2005-08.
“John was totally unselfish,” Saccomanno said. “Not just in city matters, but in his whole life. He wasn’t political — he just did what was best for the city. He loved people. He loved serving people, and he loved his family. He was a great person.”
Retired from Dow Chemical Co., Smith was the Texas Operations representative to the national Human Element campaign. He also was a member of the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, where he encouraged young people to pursue engineering degrees.
Smith served on the board of the Brazosport Medical Center in Freeport, where he’d been chairman and vice chairman. He was involved with the organization since its inception in 1999, said Nola Copus, the center’s executive director.
“He was my boss, but as we got to know each other, he became not only a friend, but a mentor,” Copus said. “We spent a lot of time together. He’d come in to sign checks every two weeks and we’d sit and talk. He was such a gentle, gentle man.
“He was a good man. He was good for the center,” she said quietly Sunday evening. “Tomorrow is the day to sign checks. I’m going to miss him.”
Smith is a candidate for The Facts Citizen of The Year, this year, nominated by numerous people in the community.
“He was a man of honor,” Beverly said. “He cared deeply for his city and was always thinking of others.”
Especially his family, Copus said. Dorothy Smith called her Sunday, following months of Smith’s medication, doctor visits and difficult medical procedures.
“She said to me, ‘He doesn’t hurt anymore,’” Copus said, her voice shaking slightly. “That was her goal — that he not hurt. I told her, ‘I loved him. I loved him so.’ She said to me, ‘And he loved you, too.’”
Funeral arrangements are pending at Dixon Funeral Home in Brazoria.
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