Stephen Baird Smithfield

Starting life as a Yankee in Evansville, Indiana and moving to Branford, Connecticut as a toddler, Steve Smithfield never suspected that one day he would become a Georgia Cracker, not to mention that he would ever even consider marrying a southerner. But that’s just what he did.

Steve, along with his parents, moved to Atlanta when he was six years old. Adjusting to a southern way of life was quite difficult for Steve in the beginning. In some ways he did eventually adjust, however in some ways he just couldn’t. For example he just couldn’t bring himself to eat fried chicken livers, turnip greens or collards. That was a big problem because Steve thoroughly enjoyed eating. He did find that buttermilk biscuits with butter and fig preserves, white cornbread and grits slipped down quite nicely.

As a child, Steve was absolutely obsessed with music and Disney’s Uncle Scrooge comic books!

He became a very accomplished musician with perfect pitch and he could play several instruments by ear along with reading music. He grew up listening to classical music and big bands, and he started saxophone lessons at the age of ten. When Steve was seventeen, he met a sixteen year old southern girl, and she pretty much finally sold him on the South. The mutual attraction was music! Steve was a high school senior in the North Fulton High School marching band and she was a junior at Murphy High School who played the violin in the school orchestra. It was a match made in musical heaven right there.

Being a teenager and a member of his high school marching band led him to organize his own garage band. That, in turn, led him to playing in two local professional bands, The Ramblers and The Jokers, who accompanied such well known artists as Ronnie Milsap, Mac Davis, Ray Stevens, Charlie Rich, Jan and Dean, and Leslie Gore in concerts and recordings.

Steve and Ginga married at the young ages of eighteen and nineteen while they were both in college. Even though Steve was working on a bachelor’s degree in marketing at Georgia State University, he was also working to put himself through college with his band by playing fraternity parties and some pretty awful dives, in addition to the professional concerts and recordings. During his twenties, Steve became the father of a son and daughter. His Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Georgia State provided him with the tools to get a job with the Sears Catalog as a buyer for boys wear. That job and his degree landed him in a job with the Small Business Administration as a Contract Specialist. After 32 years, Steve retired from the Small Business Administration as Area Size Program Manager. After his retirement in January of 2008, Steve and his wife have enjoyed their well earned log cabin in the North Georgia Mountains with their children and six grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife of sixty years, Ginga; his son, Mark Smithfield; daughter, Leigh Alsobrook (John); grandchildren, Ben, Jacob (Katie), Sarah Kate, Luke, Noah and Leeanne Alsobrook. He is also

survived by his sister-in-law, Lynn Tolbert; nephew, Matthew Tolbert (Thomas); niece, Hannah Finley (Mike); and great-nieces, Kyla and Lily.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.carmichaelhemperleypeachtree.com for the Smithfield family.