The Rev. Homer M. Smith believed in the power of prayer. So when he began praying that the Lord take his life, so he might reunite with his late wife, Smith’s family knew he was serious.
“They said it is called ‘Sweetheart Syndrome,’” said Smith’s eldest granddaughter, Angela Burnett, who cared for both grandparents. “When she died, he just went downhill. He said he’d lost his best friend.”
Smith and his wife, Annie Ruth Smith (whose maiden name was also Smith), married in 1939. Since she was 10 years his junior, he sought permission from a relative before he began to court her. Together they raised three children, two of whom are deceased. Smith’s wife of 73 years died February 22, at 93. He died Thursday, 27 days later, from a broken heart, his granddaughter said. He was 103.
A funeral is planned for 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, Atlanta. Haugabrooks Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Prior to his wife’s death, Smith’s life ran with machine-like efficiency. He woke up, dressed, fed himself and had a conversation or two. His wife had a similar routine, donning an apron in the morning as if she were going to the kitchen to make his breakfast and then go about her household chores. The aging couple lived with their granddaughter, who helped with their daily needs.
“My husband says to me, ‘I want you to treat me the way Granny treated Granddaddy,” Burnett said. “And I told him, ‘There isn’t but one Annie Ruth and Homer,’” she added with a hearty laugh.
Born in White Plains, located about halfway between Atlanta and Augusta, Smith spent 66 years as the pastor of the Mt. Sinai church. He was known for his attention to the needs of parishioners, even before he became pastor, said long-time member Mary Slade.
“If you were sick, you could be sure he was going to come and see you,” she said. “He would always be out in the community visiting people, letting them know he cared.”
Smith preached his first sermon in 1924 at the age of 15. Two years before he took the pulpit, Burnett said, her grandfather told people he’d seen a vision of angels climbing up and down Jacob’s Ladder. At the same time, he said he heard a voice telling him to preach the gospel.
“He was always ministering to people,” she said. “That’s what he was put on this earth to do.”
Smith retired from Mt. Sinai in 1999, but he only left pastoring, not the ministry. As he celebrated birthday after birthday, more and more people would ask him if there was a secret to his longevity. Burnett said he would respond with the beginning phrase of Proverbs 3:6.
“He’d say, ‘In all thy ways, acknowledge Him,’ and leave it at that,” she said. “And that is what he did, all the days of his life, and even until death.”
In addition to his granddaughter, Smith is survived by a son, Isaac Smith, of Atlanta, seven grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren.
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