Robert Partridge Smith Jr.

Born November 2, 1932, Robert was the older of two sons born to Robert Partridge Smith, of Jasper, Florida, and Dorothy Alma Carper Smith, of Des Moines, Iowa. Both predeceased Robert, along with his wife of 57 years, Cecelia Sompayrac Todd Smith, and their eldest child, Todd Carper Smith.

Robert attended Jacksonville public schools and graduated from Landon High School in 1950, where he was senior class president. He graduated in 1954 from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA, where he served as president of Omicron Delta Kappa and Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. In 1957, he graduated from the University of Florida College of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. Robert was recognized as the 1957 Graduate of the Year of the International Legal Honor Society of Phi Delta Phi.

Robert was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1957 and began to practice law at the Bedell & Bedell law firm in Jacksonville, which traces its roots back to 1865. The firm became Bedell, Bedell, Dittmar & Smith in 1965 and then, in 1969, became Bedell, Bedell, Dittmar, Smith & Zehmer. Robert remained with the firm until 1975.

In 1975, Florida Governor Reubin Askew appointed Robert to the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, where he served for eight years. In his final two years on the Court, Robert served as Chief Judge and oversaw the design, by Florida architect William Morgan, and construction of the initial courthouse of the First District Court of Appeal, which today is the Florida State University College of Law Advocacy Center.

When Robert retired from the First District Court of Appeal, he continued his legal practice in Tallahassee with Hopping Boyd Green & Sams. In 1995, the firm became Hopping Green Sams & Smith. He remained with the firm until his retirement in 2001.

Robert served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Florida College of Law where he taught classes in Jurisprudence and Administrative Law. He was a member of the Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions from 1964 to 1989, and chairman from 1979 to 1989.

Robert was a member of Christ Church in Ponte Vedra Beach and then St. John’s Episcopal Church after his move to Tallahassee. For two decades, he was a member of the Society for Values in Higher Education. He enjoyed playing golf at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and Capital City Country Club. His wide-ranging interests included the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, the writings of Samuel Johnson, and frequently traveling throughout Florida with family to watch spring training games of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Robert is survived by daughter Cecelia Carroll Smith, a Florida lawyer and professor at the Florida State University College of Law; daughter Carolyn Markee Smith-Morris, a professor at the University of Texas - Southwestern School of Public Health; son-in-law Timothy G. Schoenwalder, a Tallahassee lawyer; brother Richard Carper Smith, retired professor of physics, of Aurora, Illinois; nephews Benjamin Stanley Smith and Gordon Partridge Smith; and grandchildren Todd Smith-Schoenwalder, Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder, John Isaac Smith-Schoenwalder, Lauren Smith-Morris, and Cecelie Smith-Morris.

A family memorial service will be held at Robert's and Cecelia’s longtime oceanfront residence on Duval Drive in Jacksonville Beach. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a gift to Washington and Lee University, designating it for the Todd C. Smith Memorial Fellowship Fund, 204 West Washington Street, Lexington, VA 24450.