Walter Strauss Smith Jr.

Walter (Walt) S. Smith Jr. died peacefully August 16, 2026 at the age of 82 surrounded by his family at his home in McDonough. He grew up in a close-knit family in Alcoa/Maryville, TN, where he was surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins, and always maintained a deep love for his home state. He earned a BS degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee, where he met his wife Alice, and they would have been married 60 years in December. He liked to tell people she was editor of the UT student newspaper, The Daily Beacon, and he was the sports editor.

Sports and the UT Vols remained a passion throughout his life. He followed all sports, but his favorites were the Atlanta Braves and any University of Tennessee team. In his early journalism career with the news service United Press International he covered the Vols, the Braves and other sporting events and enjoyed it to the utmost. On a personal level he was an avid golfer and played softball and basketball in church leagues for many years, first at Ousley United Methodist Church in Lithonia and later at McDonough First United Methodist Church. In his later year of basketball at McDonough First, the much-younger players marveled that he could still keep up with them on the court.

He found his niche as a news journalist and was excellent at it. He went to CNN in 1985 just as the upstart 24-hour cable TV news show was becoming a household name and worked there as a copy editor for 30 years, retiring in 2015. A co-worker said, “Walt was the most respected and best-liked person I worked with at CNN – a real gentleman in a stressful newsroom.”

Besides sports, his other particular interest at work was politics, and probably his favorite time at CNN was when he was copy editor for the “Inside Politics” show with co-anchors Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodfuff. When that show ended and he worked for other shows, he still maintained an avid interest in politics and followed it closely. One of his favorite daytime activities was reading the daily newspaper cover to cover, in a time when newspapers were a staple of everyday life.

Walt was out-going and personable and easily engaged in banter with those he worked with and all other persons with whom he came in contact and usually had a friendly rivalry with any fan from a team other than the Vols. While Alzheimer’s began to eat at his memory about six years ago, he could engage people in casual conversation so that his illness was not easily recognizable at first.

He loved his family dearly, and they dearly loved him back. He and his wife Alice enjoyed traveling together and one of their favorite destinations was to visit their French family, the Jolys, who live in Paris – daughter Alison, husband Stephane and sons Hadrien and Cameron. We often enjoyed family trips together with the Jolys and son Stephen Smith of Atlanta.

In many ways Walt was simple in his outlook on life although he was highly intelligent. He loved the people he loved with all his heart, enjoyed the things he enjoyed to the hilt, was easy-going and affable in demeanor, and was a faithful and committed member of the United Methodist Church, having “converted” under Alice’s influence from the Cumberland Presbyterian faith in which he grew up.

He is preceded in death by his beloved parents, Walter S. Smith Sr. and Edna Coley Smith, and his beloved sister, Barbara Smith Wade. He leaves a nephew, Mark (Chris) Thompson, of Daytona Beach, FL.