Southampton-Brunswick County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Smith, Wm. Jackson Jr., 1978 

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WILLIAM JACKSON SMITH, JR.

   William Jackson Smith, Jr., 54, of Cypress Manor, died Wednesday morning in 
his place of business.  He is the husband of Mrs. Betty Newsoms Smith; the son 
of the late William J. and Annie Bacon Smith; a native of Brunswick County, he 
has owned and operated Smith Jewelers in Franklin for the past 24 yers.  He is 
a member of Franklin High Street Methodist Church and an Army veteran of World 
War II.  Surviving besides his wife, are two daughters, Mrs. Vicki Smith Moore 
of Point Harbor, N.C., Mrs. Carolyn Smith Lane of Waverly; one son, William 
Jackson Smith, III of the home; two sisters, Mrs. Doris Dupriest of Victoria, 
Va., Mrs. Alice Kellam of Richmond and one brother, Edward H. Smith of 
Lawrenceville.  A funeral service will be held Friday, June 14 at 2 p.m. High 
Street Methodsit Church by the Rev. Wade Munford.  Burial will be in Poplar 
Spring Cemetery.  The family suggests memorial may be made to the Church Choir 
Fund.  Wright Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

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SLAYING SHOCKS FRANKLIN

   FRANKLIN - (AP) - Residents of this little farming and factory town 
expressed shock yesterday at news that jewelry story owner W.J. Smith Jr. had 
been fatally shot during an attempted holdup of his store.

   "Everybody in Franklin knew Jack Smith.  He was a fine man, and he never 
hurt anybody in his life," said Harold Bunnell, talking about the Wednesday 
slaying with other residents in front of the jewelry store Smith had owned for 
20 years.

   "We came down here to find out what happened," Bunnell said. "I was asking 
all over town to find out if anybody knew."

   "Everybody in Franklin is shocked."

   A bandit armed with a sawed-off shotgun entered Smith Jewelers about 11:20 
a.m., Franklin police Detective Robert Eubanks said.

   Smith activated a silent burglar alarm, the detective said, and police 
arrived while the bandit was still inside.

   While Officer Alan Bain Jr. struggled with the bandit, the man took Bain's 
pistol and shot Smith, Eubanks said.

   He said Bain subsequently subdued and arrested the man.

   Willie Lloyd Turner, 32, of Franklin has been charged with murder, robbery, 
grand larceny and the use of a sawed-off shotgun in a felony.

   Police said Smith was dead on arrival at Southampton Memorial Hospital, 
where his wife, Mary, is director of nursing.

   "Jack was a avid churchgoer," said C. Franklin Jester, who worked at a real 
estate firm next to Smith's jewelry store. "It (the shooting) was a useless 
and senseless thing"


William Jackson "Jack" SMITH, Jr., of Cypress Manor, Franklin jeweler, 
Army veteran of WW-II, 
Brunswick Co. native, murdered during robbery, 12 Jul 1978, Franklin, age 54, 
interred in Poplar Spring Cemetery (Annex 2, Plot 12B*), Franklin, 
   14 Jul 1978, 
"The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch," July 14, 1978, pp. 14 & 50 

*Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, 
   Poplar Spring list: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/psanx2.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/s530j3ob.txt