Deceased June 5, 2015
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50th Reunion Book Entry
In Memory
Fred Smith died June 5, 2015. I remember a delightful transaction Fred and I were involved in during our senior year. Fred owned a vintage Ford sedan—condition largely known. He offered it to me for an extremely modest price. I couldn’t refuse, and the deal was settled. The car got me through senior year (barely), but I had no regrets because the price was so, so reasonable.
Fred was born in Portland, Maine. He attended Governor Summer Academy in Bayfield, Mass., and was named the most outstanding graduate. He received a scholarship to Amherst and graduated with a degree in history. He married Jerrie Marcus (daughter of Neiman Marcus president Stanley Marcus) in Dallas.
After completing his service in the Air Force, Fred worked briefly at his father-in-law’s luxury store before launching a career in real estate development in 1959 with the Great Southwest Co. He built one of the first townhouse projects in Dallas.
He worked closely with civil rights leader A. Maceo Smith to develop the first professional building in Southern Dallas that had an elevator and full air conditioning. Fred’s wife said of the building, which housed black lawyers and physicians: “Nobody else had done that before.” She added, “And, being a New Englander, he felt very strongly about integration. He got a lot of pleasure out of that.”
Fred had a great love for ocean sailing, and he also loved animals. His greater love was for his big family. He split his time between Dallas and Rockport, Maine, where he planted more than 10,000 seedlings.
James C. Blackburn ’56