Don Edwin Smith

Don Edwin Smith, 81, of Charleston, South Carolina, passed away April 17, 2025. He was born on November 26, 1943, in Hokes Bluff, Alabama. Considering he was born 11 years after his next oldest brother, it’s likely he was a big surprise for his parents, Willie Fern Garrison Smith and Theodore T. Smith.

Don’s favorite place to relax with his family, including the 4-legged children, was at the West Ashley Outboard Motor Club. Anything that included sunshine and water was his happy place: boating, deep sea fishing, shrimping, and crabbing to name a few. He was also adventurous and took part in various sorts of exciting activities: spelunking, dirt track racing, riding motorcycles and horses, and mountain climbing.

From his youngest days to his passing, Don had a curious mind and could fix just about anything. During his teenage years, his parents sent him to work with various family members where he learned how to install residential electrical wiring and everything there is to know about plumbing. After he graduated high school, he even helped his cousin install telephone poles and running electric wires along highways.

Don wasn’t a very good student because he had a lot of energy and couldn’t focus, but he had a superior intellect that allowed him to learn by doing. In high school, his curiosity got him in a little trouble when he started building rockets with the hope of sending one into the atmosphere. One day after lunch, he and a friend decided to skip class to try out Don's latest rocket. At the time, NASA was having difficulties launching rockets, and despite his superior knowledge, he wasn’t any more successful. Don and his friend had used a large concrete block at the back of the school to launch the rocket, and when it crashed the school was filled with smoke. Thinking the school was on fire, the school was evacuated. As his punishment, he spent a lot of time cleaning the school in the afternoons and on weekends, but at the end of the school year, he was given the chance to set off another rocket on the football field in front of the whole school.

In 1961, Don graduated from Hokes Bluff High School, and then he attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. On one of his trips to his campus, he met a girl named Patricia. His roommate had agreed to give her a ride to Birmingham where she was starting nursing school. On the return trip to Gadsden, Patricia rode with them again. This led to their first date, and after dating for six months, they decided to elope to Trenton, Georgia. They were married on a Sunday afternoon in the Pastor's den with the Pastor's wife as the only witness. Over the next 62 years, despite many ups and downs, they created a wonderful life for themselves and their 3 children, Scott, Lynn, and Rebecca.

His first job after marrying was in Rome, Georgia with National Cash Register. He was quickly transferred to Atlanta where he spent the next 10 years working as a field engineer. Because he excelled at repairing various types of machines, he was in the first class to be trained to repair computers for NCR. This led to Don becoming NCR's traveling computer specialist for the southeast region. In 1972, he was promoted, and his family moved to Charleston, SC.

Don was offered other promotions over the years, but he turned them down because he didn’t want to leave the wonderful friends he had made here. After working for NCR for 27 years, he founded his own business, Computer Communication Consultants. It was a family business that installed computer networks, telephone systems, and the wiring for both.

After discovering he had prostate cancer at 65, he decided to retire. In 2022, he contracted COVID pneumonia which led to various health issues. For the next three years, he devoted as much time as possible to his wife, family, and friends. Sadly, there was one more health trial, chicken pox. Don had never had chicken pox despite repeated exposures, so he thought he was immune. Sadly, he was wrong, and he died from complications caused by an autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis which affects your nerves. One of his doctors said in admiration he was a "tough old bird." He was stubborn and never wanted to let a challenge get the better of him.

Once Don was moved to hospice, it was expected that he would pass within a short time. Thankfully, God had other plans, and he woke up 2 days later. Because of this miracle, we had a few more days with him. It also led to him being saved. Don was raised in a Christian household, but as an adult, he had lost faith and didn’t feel he was worthy of being one of God’s children. His daughter, brother and other family members prayed that he would find his way back. On his deathbed, Don accepted Jesus Christ as his lord and savior. He is a testament that it is never too late to open your heart to Jesus.

We, his family, cannot express how much we miss him, but we believe we will see him in our next life.

In addition to his parents, Don is preceded in death by his brother, Philip Smith, his sisters-in-law Ann and Jean Smith, and son-in-law, Robert K. Shields, III.

Don is survived by his wife of 62 years, Patricia Shelly Smith; daughters, Lynn Durr and Rebecca Shields; son, Scott Smith (Shanna); brother, Jack Smith; and grandchildren, Jessie Hearn Morris (Jason), Patrick Wisenbaker (Amanda), James Wisenbaker (Rosa), Steffan Allen, Matthew Allen (Holly), Jasmine McGreggor (Jordan), Joel Hollingsworth (Allison), Gracen Hollingsworth, and Kinley Smith, as well as numerous great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, April 26, 2025, from 10-11 am with a memorial service to follow at McAlister-Smith Funeral and Cremation, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414.

Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at mcalister-smith.com/.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral and Cremation, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, (843) 722-8371.