By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JULY 2, 2019 | A classmate from high school died recently. His name was Gerald Smith, who lived in Lizella, near Macon. While I knew him in high school, we were not close. Yet he led such an interesting and contributing life, that I admired him from afar.
After high school, though he had some offers to play college football, Gerald became a trained plumber. Over the years he often helped Bob White, the “ranger” at Girl Scout Camp Martha Johnson, near his home in Lizella. And when White retired, Gerald was a natural for the post, having “helped out” often.
He was most affable in all ways, easy to get along with, cracking jokes, and someone who enjoyed telling stories. Early on at Camp Martha Johnson in Lizella, because of his size, he was known as “Hulk.”
Sue Chipman, then the executive with the Girl Scouts in Macon, hired Gerald in 1981. She says: “He was the perfect person for the camp, with multiple skills, electrical, welding, he did it all. He kept everything going in an economical way, rigging equipment so that it would work. He was a quiet, steady voice, not flashy, He also kept me informed on matters around the camp saying, ‘Miss Sue, you ought to look into this.’ He knew what was happening at the camp.”
Gerald Smith
Lee Laughter, regional director for the Girls Scouts of Historic Georgia, remembers Gerald: “He was a gentle giant, an Energizer Bunny, who did 15 things at one time, taking care of the rustic cabins, maintaining all the equipment, and doing things quietly on his own without calling in other professionals. And the girls at the camp loved him like a grandfather. He listened to them, cooked pancakes for them, and made sure that they had a good time. The girls mainly knew him by a nickname of ‘Hulk.’”
Ronald (Doc) Holiday, who succeeded Gerald as the camp ranger, and who before had known him for years, had once told Gerald, “If you ever give up that job, let me know.” Some 27 years later, in 2008, Gerald told Ronald: “I’m gonna’ retire. I remembered you might be interested in the job.” He also recalls: “Gerald and his minister were the first to visit us when we moved to Lizella. We bonded immediately and were good friends since that time. Gerald was always cutting up, making some crack. He was a likable guy.” He was also a deacon at his Open Bible Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lizella, usually sitting in the back because of his height, but in the later years moving to the third row, to hear better.
In high school, he was an end on the varsity football team. Basketball Coach Tom Porter eyed Gerald’s height and wanted to make a basketball player out of him. Though tall, when Gerald took a hook shot, he would bend his elbows, reducing the height of the basketball, resulting in block shots. So Porter devised two stovepipe-type devices, attached to leather straps, which he would have Gerald put on in practice, so that when shooting, his elbow would not bend. Though Gerald practiced mightily with these contraptions, when he took them off for play against others, Gerald would still bend his elbow. Porter’s project failed. It was Coach Porter that nicknamed Gerald “Gooney Bird,” and that stuck, and the way most classmates knew him.
Gerald Harrold Smith, 1935-2019: May you rest in peace.
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