Dr. George V. Smith, a surgeon who spent nearly 20 years of his career in Greenwood, was remembered Monday as a renaissance man with a strong background in medicine and any other topic he tackled.
Dr. Smith, 89, died Saturday from liver cancer.
He and his wife, Annie, were living in Grenada and operating a private practice when Greenwood Leflore Hospital recruited him in 2002 to join its surgical staff.
Annie described him as “bigger than life.”
“You have to understand that he was so smart in every subject,” she said. “If he walked in here and you asked him a question about some absurd thing, he was going to tell you how it was made, its background, when it was first invented. If he read it, he learned it.”
Dr. Smith was born in Jackson and was educated at the University of Mississippi and Harvard University medical schools. His general surgical residency was at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, and he also took a transplantation fellowship at the University of Colorado in Denver.
He impressed his colleagues by being able to work in such a difficult field into his 70s and 80s.
“What was remarkable about George was how vigorous he was until his old age,” said Dr. John F. Lucas III, a fellow surgeon in Greenwood and close friend. “We have a clause in the bylaws where after 65, he didn’t have to take call. Well, he was over 65 when he came here, and he took call for the next 17 years, which was an older age than anyone had taken calls.”
Dr. Richard Goldberg became acquainted with Dr. Smith in 2015 and grew to admire his intelligence and conversation.
“He was a surgeon who was doing endoscopy, and I’m a gastroenterologist, so obviously I do endoscopy, so we shared a space for three years until he retired,” Goldberg said.
He said Dr. Smith was “a wonderful person” with a positive demeanor who was always willing to share wisdom and experience.
“He had just seen so many things in the evolution of medicine,” Goldberg said. “He could tell you about his days as a resident, which were drastically different than the days of my residency. Just to listen to him talk about medicine from 60 years ago, 55 years ago, however the math works out, all the way into the mid-2000s, was really quite remarkable.”
Dr. Smith’s work in medicine didn’t stop with surgery. He taught advanced trauma life support to special forces in the Army National Guard, researched the use of hypothermia to treat cancer and signed a bill with former Mississippi Gov. Bill Waller to have organ donor designations placed on driver’s licenses.
He was competitive and driven to master all topics he came across. He enjoyed playing tennis and golf and learned the histories of both sports in their entirety, his wife said. The two took a trip to Scotland so he could visit golf’s birthplace.
He also obtained a pilot’s license and developed a love of flying thanks to Annie, who had flown planes since she was young. He enjoyed brewing beer and wine at his home.
Lucas said Dr. Smith was “always willing to go the extra mile.” Early in his career, he got blood spatter in his eye during surgery, infecting him with Hepatitis B, Lucas said.
About nine years ago, Dr. Smith was diagnosed with liver cancer. Annie said she learned of it when he told her during a trip to Jackson for a biopsy. He took a daily chemotherapy pill that kept the disease in check, but it started to spread this year and reached his bones.
“He knew exactly what was happening to his body, and he in effect took care of his cancer management,” Annie said. “He knew what was going on and what needed to be done. He’d come to terms with it.”
Just weeks before the end of his life, Dr. Smith and his wife became confirmed members of the Episcopal Church. After years of attending Episcopal Church of the Nativity, the two were inducted as Episcopalians at Grace Episcopal Church by a bishop who was visiting. Annie said the induction meant a lot to her husband.
She remembers him for his intelligence, respect and love for his family. In addition to his wife, Dr. Smith is survived by two daughters, a son and four grandchildren.
Rather than a traditional funeral, Annie said a celebration of life will be scheduled in the coming weeks as Dr. Smith would have wanted.
“He knew he was going to die soon and it was going to be during the holidays,” said Lucas. “He did not want his service to interfere with everyone else enjoying their holidays.”