J. Verne Smith

Jefferson Verne Smith Jr. (January 15, 1925 – December 17, 2006) was an American politician from the state of South Carolina.

Early life and education Jefferson Verne Smith was born on January 15, 1925, to Jefferson Verne Smith, Sr. and Lillian Farley Smith in Greer, South Carolina. He had two sisters, Nelle Smith Dillard and Frances Smith Wallace, and one brother, W. Thomas Smith.

Smith was educated at Presbyterian College for a year but dropped out after a year, making him the only one of his siblings to not have a college degree. Following the war, Smith left his work at the orchards and became a tire seller, earning $45 a week. He later bought into a tire company and invested in the Hercules Tire and Rubber Company, owning the former and becoming the latter's corporate vice president from 1974 to 1986.

Following the 2000 South Carolina Senate election, the Senate was evenly split with 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. Smith, with lobbying from then-president George W. Bush, switched parties, giving the Republicans a majority in the State Senate for the first time since the Reconstruction era.

He was honored in 2004 by having his portrait hung in the South Carolina State Senate chambers.

Personal life and death Smith met his wife, Jean Myers Smith, when she was commuting from her home in Simpsonville to teach school in Greer in 1945. They married in 1947. They had two children together, Carole Jean Smith Olmert and Jefferson Verne Smith III. He received the Order of the Palmetto in 1995.

Around June 2005, Smith was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome. He died on December 17, 2006, at the age of 81. His wife had previously died on November 18, 29 days before him.