Reverend Dr. R.F. Smith Jr.

The Reverend Dr. R.F. Smith Jr., pastor emeritus of Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington, West Virginia, was an influential church and community leader for decades. He served 21 years as pastor in Huntington before retiring in 1999.  His 47-year ministry also included five churches in North Carolina.

Dr. Smith took the lead in civic endeavors that served the Huntington community, prominent among which are the Cabell Huntington Hospital Pastoral Care Department, Hospice of Huntington, and the area branch of Habitat for Humanity.  He served 11 years (1987-1998) on the Cabell Huntington Hospital Board of Directors and was instrumental in bringing Amazon.com and hundreds of jobs to the local community.

During his career, he wrote for a newspaper syndicate that placed his writings in more than 1,000 newspapers around the nation with a combined readership of over 60 million. He authored two books, Looking Homeward...Reports from the Homefront Lines, and Sit Down, God...I'm Angry about the death of his 17-year-old son.  For two years, he served as a management consultant through his firm,  Market Ministry, providing leadership development seminars and workshops as well as motivational speaking. He was a popular after-dinner speaker for civic, business, and professional conventions.

Upon his death in 2003, his Looking Homeward... column was continued by his daughter, Becky, for The Herald Dispatch in Huntington.