Ralph C. Smith, Jr.
December 29, 1936 – September 21, 2017
Ralph C. Smith, Jr., 80, of Bainbridge, GA, passed away Thursday, September 21, 2017.
The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 23, 2017 at First Baptist Church with Rev. Paul Medley officiating. Interment will be at Oak City Cemetery. Honorary pallbearers will be the Penney Lambert Sunday School Class, Tommy Wheeler, Wallace Cato, Palmer Rich, Lofton Willis, Chip Perry, Frank Phillip, Ricky Cook, Thomas Barber, Bob Clifton, Jimmy Fowler, Richard Epps and Jack Leverett.
The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 22, 2017 at Ivey Funeral Home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 155, Bainbridge, GA 39818.
Ralph was born December 29, 1936 in Bainbridge, GA, the son of Ralph C. Smith and Kathrine Kirbo Smith. He was a 1954 graduate of Bainbridge High School and graduated from the University of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law. He was a practicing attorney in Bainbridge for 53 years and served 16 years as Decatur County Magistrate Judge. He was a very active member of First Baptist Church where he served as a Deacon and member of the Board of Trustees. He taught the Tommy Wheeler Sunday School Class for many years and was currently a member of the Penny Lambert Sunday School Class. Ralph was a member of the Georgia Bar Association and the Decatur County Bar Association. He was a former member of the Bainbridge Lions Club and the Bainbridge Jaycees. He loved riding horses, fishing, golfing, playing his violin, and watching his Georgia Bulldogs.
Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Barbara Coleman Smith of Bainbridge, GA; his daughters, Patsy Smith Thornton and her husband, Rusty, of Hahira, GA and Amy Smith Thorn of Bainbridge, GA; his grandchildren, Noah Thorn, Jakob Thorn, Cole Thornton and Caleb Thornton; his sisters, Joan Smith Cochran of Americus, GA, Bennie Smith Turknett and her husband, Bobby, of Bainbridge, GA, and Anne Smith Wilder and her husband, Clayton, of Tallahassee, FL; his brothers, Robert F. Smith, III and his wife, Paula, of Thomasville, GA and Charles Smith and his wife, Patricia, of Bainbridge, GA; his mother-in-law Katy Coleman of Bainbridge, GA; his brother-in-law, Dan Lyons of Auburn, AL; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Ethel Smith Lyons.
