Longtime trustee and Elon Medallion honoree J. Harold Smith died on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the age of 96.
Smith was the father of current Elon trustee William H. Smith. Smith served 11 years on the Elon Board of Trustees and was elected trustee emeritus in 1983. He was involved with a variety of civic and charitable organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, Burlington Educational Foundation, Burlington Rotary Club, Twin Lakes retirement center and the YMCA. He was named Alamance County Man of the Year in 1999, the Boy Scouts of America’s Cherokee Council Man of the Year in 1990, and received the Frank L. Holt, Jr. Award for Business Leadership from Elon in 1996. In 2003 he was awarded the Elon Medallion. Smith and his family donated the Casavant pipe organ in Whitley Auditorium to memorialize his sister, Alyse Smith Cooper, sharing their love of music with Elon and the community.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, at Front Street United Methodist Church, Burlington, North Carolina, 27215. The family will receive friends in the Heritage Room at Front Street United Methodist Church following the funeral service. Rich & Thompson Funeral Service in Burlington is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be made to the Alamance Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 1898, Burlington, N.C. 27216, Front Street United Methodist Church Music Program, P.O. Box 2597, Burlington, N.C. 27216, the J. Harold Smith Scholarship at UNC-Chapel Hill, 111 Pettigrew Hall, Campus Box 2300, Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.