Charles T. Smith

Charlie Smith passed away at 83, as calmly and gently as he lived his life. He was holding the hands of his wife and daughter in a quiet ICU room in Hendersonville, NC. Charlie was predeceased by his mother Willilee Henderson Smith, father Charles Devoe Smith, and son Brendan Bergin Smith. He is survived by wife Betsy Wren Smith, daughter Laura Nanette Smith, daughter-in-law Suzanne Mintz Smith, and grandchildren Jack Oliver McConnell and Osie Brooklyn Hamilton.

A native of Greenville, Charlie Smith grew up in the Sans Souci community. His parents, both former textile mill workers, raised him in Bethel United Methodist Church where his father served as music director and lay minister. At age twelve Charlie became the church's organist and choir director. At Parker High School he continued his musical studies while playing on the state championship basketball team and studying piano at Furman University. He graduated in 1960 and went on to Brevard College, where he served as student government president, met Betsy Wren, and shared in the music program they both loved. They married in 1965.

Charlie earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Clemson University in 1967 and later completed a postgraduate certification in city planning. His adult life reflected the same quiet leadership that marked his youth. He served as president of his chapter of the American Institute of Architects, chaired Greenville's Board of Zoning and Appeals, and, with Betsy, devoted many years to the Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, where each served a two-year term as president.

During his long career with the Tarleton Tankersley Architectural Group, Charlie designed many memorable spaces - churches, libraries, schools, and hospitals. His final design was the new Fellowship Hall for the Greenville UU Fellowship, sketched on a napkin and inspired by Le Corbusier's Ronchamp Chapel, a mountaintop pilgrimage site in France near the home of godchild, Brigitte Jardon Rocher. His affinity for light, form, and the natural world shaped his work, a passion he shared with his daughter Laura.

Charlie was recognized everywhere he served without ever seeking recognition and carried a warm, philosophical sense of humor. After five years in the Air Force, he celebrated his freedom by growing the beard he wore for decades. When people remarked that his daughter Laura looked like him, he would grin and say, "You should see her with her beard." Teenagers knew him as the man with the VW van, the beard, and the pipe - until he traded the pipe, after forty years, for a longer life with his family. He loved playing and coaching softball, soccer, and basketball, and he never stopped rooting for the Tigers!

Charlie's favorite gift was the latest geodetic survey map of the southern Appalachia mountains, where his pioneer ancestors lived and thrived. His great-grandfather taught shape-note singing around Cathey's Creek, NC, a heritage that lived on in Brendan's and Charlie's passion for sharing music with others. Charlie loved to go exploring and when asked directions, both he and Brendan would answer in terms of geography and natural landmarks - wayfinding by mountain ranges and rivers. Charlie loved travelling abroad, learning about new countries and cultures, and he never met a stranger.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 3pm on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at the Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 1135 State Park Road, Greenville, SC 29609. Friends and family are invited to attend. You may also join the service at: https://youtube.com/live/t9AWNX8L6wM?feature=share

Those wishing to do so may make a contribution in Charlie's memory to the Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, P.O. Box 4518, Greenville, SC 29608 (https://greenvilleuu.org/).