George "G.W." William Smith Jr.

George William “G.W.” Smith, Jr., 76, of Southport, North Carolina and Naples, Florida passed away on Saturday, April 23, 2022. He was born July 22, 1945 in Gastonia, North Carolina to the late George William Smith, Sr. and Ruby Marie Williams Smith.

G.W. is preceded in death by his younger brother, Jerry Smith; his older sister Joyce James; and his older brother and best friend, Robert L. Smith.

He is survived by his wife of over 35 years together, Marla Smith of Southport. He is also survived by his son, George William “Bill” Smith, III (Kathleen), his daughter Allison M. Prather (Wes); his grandchildren George William “Will” Smith, IV (Dallas), Rachel Bayne (James), Sarina Prather and Layla Prather; his nephew Robert L. Smith, Jr. (Carolyn), nieces Amy Mazurek (K.J), MeLisa Brown (Richard), Judy Hendley (Al); great nephew Wesley Mewborn (Robin); as well as other nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, great great nieces and nephews; and his sister-in-law, Edna Rouse Smith. He also had many special friends he called family. His family and friends were a very important part of his life, and they will deeply miss his presence.

G.W. worked at an early age for the Department of Agriculture in Duplin County measuring allotted crops. Because of his high level of mathematical intelligence he was invited by Imperial Tobacco Ltd research center in Durham, NC to learn to program an IBM1620. Within three months he was writing Assembly Language and within another six months, he was also writing Fortran IV Language. Within two years he began working for University Computing Corporation where he was soon recruited by Burroughs Corporation in Charlotte, NC. Within another two years, G.W. was promoted to System Software Manager in Washington, DC. He switched to Sales and he and his family moved to Raleigh, NC. Within a year he was promoted to Sales Account Manager and moved back to DC. Coming from a modest beginning, G.W. was very proud of his rapid advancement, and it was very important to him to be able to provide for his family early on and throughout his life.

G.W. continued to advance in his career within Burroughs (Unisys), holding various upper level management positions in Sales and Marketing. He traveled all over the world on business and vacations, and was transferred to many cities in the U.S. before retiring from Unisys Corporation after 32 years. Even after retiring, he and Marla continued to relocate and also travel throughout the U.S. and Canada. They enjoyed the RV lifestyle with their fur-babies for many years, and got to actually experience the places G.W. only flew over on business trips. They were fortunate to be able to share many wonderful adventures together and with family and friends.

He was an avid bicycle rider, several times peddling over 100 miles in one day, from Key Largo to Key West, when he was in his 60’s! It was also important to him to walk several miles a day. He was determined to keep walking and keep his strength up for as long as he could during his final months. The nursing staff at Duke enjoyed watching him do his “laps” around the hallways.

G.W. has been cremated and requested a Memorial/Celebration of Life be held at a later date for family and friends to attend.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to donate in his memory to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or Duke University Hematology and Oncology Department. Donations can also be made to the American Stroke Association.

Online condolences and fond memories can be shared at www.peacocknewnamwhite.com.

Peacock-Newnam & White Funeral and Cremation Service, Southport, North Carolina.