COLUMBIA – A celebration of life for Robert “Bob” Candler Smith, Sr. will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 14, 2020 at Dunbar Funeral Home, Dutch Fork Chapel, 7600 Woodrow Street, Irmo, S.C. Bob will be interred with his wife, Nedra, in Bush River Memorial Gardens Mausoleum. Bob had many loving friends, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, services will be family only.
Bob was born in Anderson, S.C. and was the son of the late Candler Calvin and Alice Human Smith. Bob was a graduate of Anderson Boys High School and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. At the University he was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity, Euphradian Literary Society, Business Manager of the Carolina Review, Circulation Manager of the Gamecock, the University newspaper, and a member of the German Club and the Cotillion Club.
Bob was employed by the South Carolina Employment Commission for over thirty-seven years and retired from the Agency in 1991. During his career he served as Area Director of the Agency's Bennettsville, Anderson and Columbia local offices and as Field Supervisor over seven local employment offices in the Pee Dee area of the state. He also served the agency as Director of Manpower Training and Personnel Director. At time of his retirement, Bob was Assistant Deputy Executive Director of the Agency's Employment Service Division.
An active member of the Agency's Professional Organization, The International Association of Personnel in Employment Security throughout his career, he served as State President in 1969 and as District Representative at the International level in 1986. Bob was elected Retiree of the Year in 1994 and in recognition of his achievements to the Employment Security Program, he was elected to the Agency's Hall of Fame in 1995.
Active in civic and community affairs, Bob served as President of the Bennettsville Jaycees in 1960-61 and was elected one often Outstanding Local Jaycee Presidents in the state at the State Jaycee Convention in 1961. In 1967, Bob was honored by his inclusion in The 1967 Edition of Personalities of The South in recognition of his community service and economic development efforts in Anderson and Oconee Counties. A Methodist, Bob was active and a member of the Administrative Boards of the First Methodist Church in Bennettsville and Saint John’s Methodist Church in Anderson. At Union United Methodist Church in Irmo, Bob has served on the Administrative Board, the Board of Trustees, President of the Methodist Men’s Club, and as coordinator for the church's Senior Travel Club. He was a member of the Ailene Leitner Fellowship Sunday School Class and a member of the Spirited Singers, a senior choir at Union United Methodist Church.
Bob was a member of the University of South Carolina Associates, a life member of the University of South Carolina Alumni Association and the State Retiree Association. He was a Third Degree Mason affiliated with Hiran Lodge in Anderson, S.C. Bob was a member of the Irmo Navy, a charitable and social civic organization organized by a small group of Irmo men over fourty years ago.
Bob was preceded in death by his loving wife, Nedra Gilmore Smith; his parents; and by his sister, Aileen Smith Walters Yeargin.
Surviving are his children and daughters-in-law, Robert Candler Smith, Jr. and Myra of Columbia and Harold Gilmore “Gil” Smith and Susan of Lexington; grandchildren, Robert Candler Smith, III Shannon Caroline Loveridge Smith, Derek Gilmore Smith (Jamie Bugner), and Dylan Tate Smith; and two great-grandchildren, Brooklyn and Avery Smith.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Union United Methodist Church, Building Fund or to a charity of one’s choice.
Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.
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