Godfrey Smith

Godfrey Smith

Full Name:  William Godfrey Smith
     Born:  March 18, 1914, Tallahassee, Fla.
     Died:  November 9, 1999, Tallahassee, Fla.

Legacy Bricks:  Legacy Walk Map Link
   1986 Moore-Stone Award HOF - Loc 63

FSU Career

Moore-Stone Award

Member of the FSU Hall of Fame

Elected into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1986

Obituary for William Godfrey Smith

The Florida State University Athletic Department presents the Moore-Stone Award for Outstanding Service to Florida State Athletics to Godfrey Smith.

A native of Tallahassee, Godfrey Smith began his banking career in 1937. With the exception of service in the Army Air Force in World War II he has been with the Capital City First National Bank ever since. Godfrey Smith has served on the Board of the FSU Foundation and since 1981 has been a member of the Florida State Athletic Board. The university and its athletic endeavors have greatly benefited from wise counsel and good sense of this concerned citizen.

From the Tallahassee Democrat, November 11, 1999, page 3.

Friends share sincere memories of banker.
They say he was committed to his work and a loving individual.

By Catherine McNaught, Democrat staff writer

The day after the passing of banking and civic mogul Godfrey Smith, friends remembered him with heartfelt fondness Wednesday.

Smith, 85, the former president and CEO of Capital City Bank, died Tuesday at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital after a brief illness.

While his achievements as a banker and civic leader were notable, friends remembered him in different ways.

He was a great dancer, popular with the ladies. He was an indifferent college student, preferring to spend his energy on student government activities.

But most of all, they said, he was a truly good person and great friend. "We've always been close friends and as loving friends as men can be," said retired Tallahassee pediatrician George Saxon Palmer. "And I just admired him in every way, was proud to be his friend in every way," speaking quickly before his voice could break.

Palmer's grandfather, George W. Saxon, founded Capital City Bank in 1895. Palmer had no idea his best friend would one day run the place when they were fraternity roommates for four years at the University of Florida.

He shouldn't have been surprised, though. "Banking was his life," Palmer said.

Smith had a green thumb for anything to do with money, recalled Capital City Bank President Tom Barron.

"Things that Godfrey took an interest in prospered," he said. "But to be honest with you, I don't think the money aspect was his focus. He did like building things, so anything he got involved in - the Chamber (of Commerce), FSU, his church - he liked to see them prosper. That's what his interest was."

Smith started at the bottom rung of Capital City Bank three days after graduating college in 1937. "And I don't think he missed a day, except for when we were in the service" in World War II, Palmer said.

Smith worked at the bank until turning the presidency and CEO reins over to his older son, Bill, in 1995. He remained vice president of the Capital City Bank Group. Smith also owned and developed hundreds of acres of land off Apalachee Parkway, including the site of Governor's Square mall.

During their long friendship, Palmer said Smith was often his conscience and compass.

"He was just so even-tempered," Palmer said. "He didn't drink or smoke ... He'd look after me (in college). I got a little rambunctious at times ... And he had to keep an eye on his brother, Julian, who was a few years behind him (at the University of Florida). So he would do that and be a steadying influence on us when we'd have too much (fun)."

Besides banking and high finance, Smith also loved college football and quail hunting.

"He was a good quail shot," recalled Ryals Lee, who knew Smith as both a close family friend and as his banker when he ran a beer-distributing business in Tallahassee.

"He was fun to shoot with. It was quite a competition. And we'd kid each other unmercifully sometimes about our football teams," said Lee, a Georgia boy from Americus.

Lee and his brother, Richard, who worked for Smith at Capital City bank for more than 28 years, both played football for the University of Georgia. So Smith would always throw a bash for the University of Georgia football coaches and fans on the eve of Florida-Georgia games, Richard Lee remembered.

"He loved college ball," he said.

Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. today at Trinity United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to Trinity United Methodist Church.

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