Jimmy Smith, former District 8 Commissioner, passes away at age 91

Richard Adams
·2 min read

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – James “Jimmy” Smith, Jr., who held two four-year-terms as Augusta Richmond County Commissioner for District 8, has passed away according to his family.

Smith, who passed away at his long-time home along Brown Road in Hephzibah, GA, Sunday, was 91 years old and soon to celebrate his 92nd birthday, according to his son, Darren Smith, owner of Smith Tire Company located at 1417 Gordon Highway in Augusta.

Smith represented South Augusta on the Board of Commissioners for eight years in the early 2000s and, according to his family, was known locally as “The Mayor of South Augusta.” Smith’s terms were January 2, 2004 to December 31, 2007 and January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010.

According to friends and family, Smith founded the Richmond County Pride and Progress Committee in 1992 following years of decline at Regency Mall as shop owners pulled their businesses from the mall and area. The Pride and Progress Committee made it its mission to build up the business community in South Augusta and draw retailers to the area.

In 2018, with the anticipated opening of the Verizon Wireless store at 3120 Peach Orchard Road, then-Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis credited Smith and his work with the Pride and Progress Committee for developments that came to South Augusta years later, saying, “We know that the majority of the citizens who live in Richmond County are South of Gordon Highway, and there’s been a lot of work. These types of efforts happen not just in a single moment, but over a period of time, when you look at the work that former commissioner Jimmy Smith, of Pride and Progress, [and] the commissioners.”

According to former Augusta Commissioner and close friend Don Grantham, Smith made serving the city and South Augusta community his goal in life and continued to champion making things for those who chose to live here. Grantham tells WJBF that Smith was “probably one of the finest, most trustworthy commissioners we’ve had in this city,”

Grantham said that he and family agreed that it was fitting that Smith pass away on Sunday, which he held sacred as a “Day of Rest,” to “go home and be with the Lord.”

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