Obituary - Smith

Alice H. Smith

February 4, 2011
Burlington County Times

Alice H. Smith of Cinnaminson departed this life at home surrounded by her family on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011. She was 84.

She was the beloved mother of former Senator Bradford S. Smith (Janet) and Susan James (Stephen); grandmother of Kristin Puzak (David), Bradford Scott Jr. (Jackie), Vanessa and Juliet Smith and Stephen and Luke James; great-grandmother of Leilani Smith, and mother-in-law of Juliet Headley Smith.

She was preceded in death by her husband and former Senator, Walter L. Smith Jr. and her son, Walter L. Smith III.

Alice was a pillar of strength, knowledge and experience for over 60 years at the family law firm of Smith & Smith where she worked as secretary, paralegal and office manager with a 'get it done' attitude which she practiced daily. She was a talented artist and craft person having presented her family and friends with numerous paintings, handmade gifts, and other artwork, which will be appreciated and treasured for many years to come. Above all, Alice cared for her family.

Her mother, her brothers and sister, her husband, her children and their spouses, her grandchildren and great-grandchild were foremost in her thoughts throughout her life. No task was too great, no challenge was too difficult in bringing happiness to those she loved. She always found time to do the wonderful things that made her the person that all who knew her should hope to emulate and will fondly remember.

Visitation with Alice's family will be at Christ Church, Main and 4th Streets, Riverton, on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011 from 12:30 to 2 p.m., followed by a service at the Church and interment at Lakeview Cemetery in Cinnaminson.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to Christ Church, 305 Main St., Riverton, NJ 08077.

Weber Funeral Home, 112 Broad Street, Riverton

Source: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/obits_detail/article/151/2011/february/04/alice-h-smith.html

Walter L. Smith Jr., Former N.j. Legislator

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20150919014005/http://articles.philly.com/1994-07-14/news/25845398_1_income-tax-sales-tax-state-scholarships

By S. Joseph Hagenmayer, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT

Posted: July 14, 1994

Walter L. Smith Jr., 76, an anti-tax conservative and a maverick Burlington County Republican state assemblyman and senator in the 1960s and early 1970s, died Sunday at his Cinnaminson home.

Mr. Smith was elected to the state Assembly in 1963. He served until 1971, when he won a special election to the state Senate, but he then lost an election battle for the seat when the district was reapportioned. He also served as a commissioner on the Delaware River Port Authority from 1984 to 1990.

"He was an honest man, and what he believed in, he believed in," said Burlington County Surrogate Elton Conda, who had known Mr. Smith since the 1950s. "He fought unnecessary taxes and spending throughout his career. He was a watchdog for taxpayers."

Mr. Smith first opposed broad-based state taxes proposed by then-Gov. Richard J. Hughes, a Democrat, and he later took on the leaders of his own party and opposed then-Gov. William T. Cahill's taxation proposals in 1969. Cahill eventually got his sales tax, but another proposal, the state income tax, didn't come about until 1976.

When Cahill sought the Republican nomination for the govenorship, Mr. Smith supported another candidate, although he supported Cahill in the fall election.

A member of the Assembly's Appropriations Committee, Mr. Smith was the powerful committee's vice chairman. But his opposition to Cahill's taxes caused party leaders to pass over him when naming a new chairman. The slight did little to change his position.

A 1970 Inquirer story quoted then-Assemblyman Smith as saying, "I have enough votes in the lower house to block any income tax until the end of my term, and I intend to vote against the proposed 2 percent increase in the sales tax."

He once proposed an amendment to the state constitution banning an income tax in New Jersey.

Mr. Smith led the fight to prevent 18-year-olds in the state from gaining the right to vote. And he proposed and found considerable support for legislation to take state scholarships away from college students who were found to be engaging in illegal demonstrations and otherwise disrupting college activities during the tumultuous '60s.

In 1976, when a governor finally got an income tax adopted, Mr. Smith held fast to his positions and ran once again - this time unsuccessfully - for an Assembly seat on the single issue of opposing the new income tax.

His son, Bradford S. Smith, also a former state senator, said his father ''always chose the honest and straightforward way to go. He always asked himself the question: Is it good for the people? And it was a good question to ask."

Mr. Smith was born in the East Riverton section of Cinnaminson and lived in Riverton for most of his life. He was a 1935 graduate of Palmyra High School, and attended the American Institute of Banking and Drexel Institute of Technology before enrolling in Rutgers Law School's night division. He worked his way through school and received his law degree in 1949. He was an Army veteran of World War II.

Mr. Smith was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Riverton, where he once served as a church school superintendent and was a vestryman.

In addition to his son Bradford, Mr. Smith is survived by his wife, Alice Hinchman Smith; a daughter, Susan Smith James of Maple Shade, and five grandchildren.

Friends may call from 7 to 9 p.m. today at Weber Funeral Home, 112 Broad St., Riverton. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Christ Episcopal Church, Fourth and Main Streets, Riverton. Burial will be in Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson.

The family requests that memorial donations in his memory be made to Christ Episcopal Church, 305 Main St., Riverton, N.J. 08077.