Former Greenwood Mayor Harry Smith was remembered with fondness Friday at a memorial service honoring his life.
The service was held at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.
Mr Smith, 75, who served as Greenwood’s mayor from 1993 through 2006, died of cancer Tuesday at his home.
The service formally began with a Hawaiian version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” performed by artist Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, a selection that Mr. Smith had specifically chosen for the occasion.
Greenwood attorney and longtime friend Luke Schissel tried to capture the life of Mr. Smith.
“So many hats, so many titles, so many words I’ve learned to call Harry. Businessman, banker, proprietor, teacher, mentor, soldier, mayor, president, fraternity man, civic leader, Rotarian, marksman, animal lover, Ole Miss fan, fashion expert,” the last one bringing a round of laughter.
“The one that I am most proud to use is ‘friend.’ Harry was my friend. And Harry was my client — the best sort of client — he always promptly paid his bills,” Schissel said, to even more laughter.
Schissel read “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a way to describe his friend.
"Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
"His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the world in the face,
For he owes not any man."
Later, Schissel concluded with:
"Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!"
“Farewell Harry, farewell friend, farewell,” he said in closing.
The Rev. Peter Gray said the musical selections, although a bit unorthodox, were pure Harry Smith.
“Harry Smith was a leader. I’ll tell you how I know. Some months ago, as he began making funeral plans, he said, ‘I’ve got two songs I want to play at my funeral,’ you’re thinking hymns right?” Gray said.
The first “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the second was “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.
“Now, Episcopalians are not known for our lively musical choices. I started wondering who would be upset if Louis Armstrong came out of our P.A. I put my finger in my plastic collar and said, ‘Harry, I don’t know. Let me think about it,’” Gray recounted.
“While I thought, Harry kept talking. Talking about it with family and with me, with church members who went to visit him. The message kept making its way back to me. ‘Over the Rainbow,’ ‘What a Wonderful World.’”
Mr. Smith’s political instincts remained sharp. “I got out campaigned. Harry built a coalition. I never had a chance,” Gray said.
Looking back on it, Gray said, Mr. Smith’s instincts were right.
“The songs, both of them, so fit the optimistic, grinning spirit of the man whose life we celebrate,” he said.
Gray read some the verses from “What a Wonderful World.”
"I see skies of blue
and clouds of white,
the bright blessed day,
the dark sacred night
and I think to myself what a wonderful world."
“It’s the song of a man who enjoyed his life," Gray said.
Whether it was his rose bushes, enjoying a cup of coffee at Turnrow or enjoying his family, Mr. Smith “was a leader. He greeted the challenges of life with a grin,” Gray said.
“You knew where he stood. He was funny. He was a businessman. He was a thinker.
"Though we see him no longer, Harry, and all of those that we love, they are not lost to God. Harry is not lost to God.
“We have reason to hope, not because of his accomplishments, but because of what God had accomplished in him,” Gray said.
“We gathered today to celebrate a life. More importantly, we gathered to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“In the resurrection we find hope. To the resurrection we commend our brother Harry. In the resurrection we say to ourselves, ‘What a Wonderful World,’” Gray said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
The original version of this article had an incorrect date for Smith's last year in office.
