Obituary of Ellison Leon Smith

Dr. Ellison Leon Smith, Sr., of Holly Springs, North Carolina, passed away on July 28, 2022, at age 82, at Kitty Askins Hospice Center, in Goldsboro, North Carolina, after a lengthy stay at UNC Rex Heart and Vascular Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. Leon was born on January 13, 1940, in Anderson County, South Carolina. He was the youngest of five children born to Casper Rei Smith and Nora Lee Ellison Smith. After graduating from Palmetto High School, he received an Associate of Arts degree from Anderson Junior College in Anderson, South Carolina, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He subsequently received Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Theology, and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He served as a minister at several Baptist churches in North Carolina before pastoring the First Baptist Church of Goldsboro, North Carolina for 21 years and then the First Baptist Church of Gastonia, North Carolina for 13 years. He also served terms as First Vice-President and President of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in the late 1980’s. He was a Trustee at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1989-1993 and 1995-1999. Leon was instrumental in forming United Church Ministries in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to serve as a coordination hub for care provided by multiple churches to persons in need in the community. Leon was a gifted and compassionate minister, a consummate writer and a courageous leader. To his family, he was a loving and kind husband, father, and grandfather who brought joy and love to their lives and lightened their spirits with his wit and wisdom. He was full of jokes and silly antics and even joked around with his nurses in the hospital. He enjoyed carpentry and completed the construction of the family’s mountain home in Virginia. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Martha Teague Smith; his daughter, Laura Allison Smith, of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina; his son, Dr. Ellison L. Smith and wife, Electa Alexander Smith, of Asheville, North Carolina; his grandchildren, Brooke Alexander Smith, Matthew Foster Smith, Jason Charles Corum, and Cas Corum. He is also survived by his sister Ethel Caldwell, of Belton, South Carolina, and several nieces and nephews. He is pre-deceased by his parents, and his siblings, Rev. C.R. Smith, Helen Johns, and Gladys Hall. A Service of Committal will be held at 11:00 a.m. on August 4 at the prayer chapel across from the Abbotts Creek Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, on 2817 Abbotts Creek Church Road, High Point, North Carolina. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on August 4 at Knollwood Baptist Church, 330 Knollwood St., Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Family will receive friends after the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to Kitty Askins Hospice Center, 107 Handley Park Ct., Goldsboro, North Carolina, 27534, or Rex Healthcare Foundation, 2500 Blue Ridge Rd. #325, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607. Arrangements are being provided by Pierce-Jefferson Funeral Home, 213 W. Mountain St., Kernersville, North Carolina 27284.