SALISBURY - Reverend Percy Smith Jr., of 806 Sunset Drive, at age 82 passed peacefully away on February 28, 2008, at the Brian Center. He was the son of the late Percy Smith Sr. and Essie Beasley Smith and the husband of Mrs. Lucy Mary Gilliam of Salisbury.

Funeral: Friday, March 7, at 11 a.m. at Varick Auditorium at Livingstone College in Salisbury with longtime friend and colleague Bishop Cecil Bishop as Eulogist and Bishop George W. Walker Sr. presiding. Burial will follow in the U.S. National Cemetery of Salisbury with military rites by Rowan County Honor Guard.

Visitation: Thursday, March 6 from 5:30-7 p.m., the family will receive friends and relatives at Hairston Funeral Home Inc. at 703 S. Main St., in Salisbury.

Rev. Smith received an honorary discharge from the U.S. Army after serving his country in the European Theater of World War II and receiving 5 Bronze Stars.

Rev. Smith was a graduate of J.C. Price High School and an undergraduate of Livingstone College, Salisbury. He received his Masters of Divinity from Hood Theological Seminary, also in Salisbury. He was also the recipient of two Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degrees, one from Hood Theological Seminary of Salisbury and one from Temple Bible College of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rev. Smith was a retired AME Zion minister, having served 54 years as the pastor of numerous churches throughout the United States, including major assignments in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio, California, and finally returning to North Carolina.

His most recent parishes included New Hope, Cedar Grove, Caldwell Chapel, Mowing Glade and St. John AME Zion Churches of the Piedmont Conference of the AME Zion connection.

Reverend Smith is also the creator of the AME Zion Church's beautiful and distinguished logo, adopted by the Church at the General Conference of 1984 in St. Louis, Mo.

Reverend Smith was also an early fighter for Civil Rights and was the first Black man (since Reconstruction) to run for the United States Congress in the state of Alabama in 1970. He was also the first Black man to run for mayor of the city of Montgomery, Ala., in 1971.

Honoring his memory are his devoted wife, Mrs. Lucy Mary Gilliam Smith of the home; daughters Ava Antoinette Abrams (Rudy), Charlotte, and Patricia Brasher, Louisville, Ky.; sons Richard Gilliam Smith (Karen), Reseda, Calif., Frederick Anthony Smith (Vanessa), Ypsilanti, Mich., Paul Christian Smith (Donna), Livonia, Mich.; a brother, Richard King Smith, Louisville, Ky.; 14 beloved grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; several brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and cousins; thousands of friends; a host of ministerial colleagues; and tens of thousands of former parishioners.

 Prior to this, the family will be receiving guests at their home at 806 Sunset Drive in Salisbury.

In lieu of flowers (which will not be allowed at the U.S. Veteran's Cemetery), the family is accepting contributions.

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