William R. Smythe

William Rodger ("Bill") Smythe, Jr., of Norcross, age 84, passed away on Feb. 14, 2012. Born in Orlando, Florida, Bill graduated from Rollins College in 1950, where he met his wife, Jackie. He went on to earn his Ph.D. from Duke University in 1955. He moved to Atlanta in the fall of 1955, where he began his 37-year career as a professor in the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech. Bill loved music and played recorders with early music groups around Atlanta and also sang in church choir for many years. He had a very strong love of words and puzzles and created more than 400 double crostic puzzles over the last dozen years, many of which were published on the doublecrostic.com website. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Jacqueline ("Jackie") Biggerstaff Smythe, and by their four children and their spouses - Brenda and Roger Torri, of Flowery Branch; Bryan and Alison Smythe, of Norcross; Nancy and Dennis Thompson, of Roswell; and Rodger and Peggy Smythe, of Louisville, KY. He also is survived by his nine grandchildren - Jessica Torri Frye(and husband, Ben) and Christa Torri; Eric, Keith and Scott Thompson; Samantha Bennett and Anna Grace Smythe; and Kyle and Natalie Smythe. A memorial service will be held at Patterson & Son - Oglethorpe Hill Funeral Home Chapel on Sunday, February 19, 2012, at 3:00pm. Visitation with the family will take place prior to the service, beginning at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to a charity of your choice .