From picking cotton to head of Food Lion. Rowan County loses a legend.

Most North Carolinians didn’t know Tom Smith. But there’s a good chance that most North Carolinians — at least those over 40 — saw him on television.

Smith was CEO of Food Lion, the Salisbury-based grocery store. He was also the company’s spokesman.

For several years throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Smith strolled across TV screens. He wore a suit and tie, spoke softly, flashed a smile, wandered the store’s aisles and told viewers how the Food Lion’s products were cheaper and better than their competitors.

The commercials were not flashy. And some were funny, like the spot where his wife, Martha, played tug of war with a lion – an off-camera lion, of course.

“I think he became a household name in many ways,” said Margaret Kluttz, who met Smith decades ago. “If they had the internet then, he would have gone viral.”

Smith, the business man, philanthropist and Rowan County resident died June 2. He was 82.

Leading the pride

Smith grew up in China Grove, a small town off Interstate 85 between Charlotte and Salisbury.

When he was 5, he joined his mother and picked cotton for local farmers, his obituary said. By 16, he was bagging groceries and stocking shelves at Food Town, the supermarket that would eventually become Food Lion.

At 19, he was a store manager. Later, as a student at Catawba College, Smith switched to night classes so he could work at the grocery store during the day and pay for school, his obituary said.

Years later, the local boy took the company’s reins. Smith became Food Lion’s president by age 39, CEO by 44 and chairman by 49.

Carol Herndon remembers joining Food Lion as a financial controller in 1989. She was young — “green,” as she calls it. After accepting the job, she got a signed letter from Smith, welcoming her to Food Lion.

She was amazed that the head of a billion-dollar company gave the time to welcome her.

“I still have that letter,” said Herndon, who became close friends with Smith. “It’s one of life’s treasures.”

The letter hinted at what she’d later learn — that Smith didn’t rule from a corner office. Rather, he was kind, personable and approachable, Herndon said.

And he knew every aspect of his business, said Kluttz, former Salisbury mayor and former member of Food Lion’s Board of Directors.

On trips, Smith would anonymously stop by the local Food Lion, she said. He’d inspect the store, talk to customers and talk to employees — not because Smith was a micromanager, but because he wanted to increase his understanding of the business.

“I have never seen a CEO or a president of a company that knew every level of the company like he did and who was so effective at growing the business at every level,” Kluttz said.

When Smith became CEO, Food Lion had about 200 stores. When he retired in 1999, it had 1,200 stores and 90,000 employees.

There were times, Herndon said, that Food Lion was opening two stores a week.

The local boy had made it.

“He had the wherewithal to live a whole different type of lifestyle, but he loved is farm, he loved his friends and he loved his community,” Kluttz said. “He was what I call a homegrown success story who never outgrew his town or the community he loved.”

Salisbury roots

Smith’s life touched every part of Rowan County, it seems.

His money helped restore the Historic Salisbury Depot and the town’s two theaters — the Meroney Theatre and the Lee Street Theatre. It helped build the South Rowan branch of the YMCA and expand the Price of Freedom Museum, a memorial for the U.S. men and women who died in war.

There is an auditorium named after Smith in the business school at Catawba College, from which he graduated in 1964. And a few years ago, he paid to upgrade the room’s audio and visual technologies.

“You can talk to anyone in Salisbury and chances are they knew him,” said Josh Friday, Smith’s grandson.

That includes the folks at Catawba College, where Smith was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1986 to 2014 and president of the board for more than 10 years during that stretch.

In 1992, Smith created a scholarship fund for students of the business school, said Meg Kluttz Dees, Kluttz’ daughter and Vice President of Development for the college.

The scholarship pays recipients $3,000 a year. So far, it has helped 650 students.

“Anywhere you look, you see his philanthropic footprint,” Dees said.

Every year, Tom and Martha would stop by the college to meet and eat lunch with those receiving the awards. And it never got old seeing Smith sit down and talk with the students, Dees said.

He talked to them about hard work and perseverance, she said. And he asked questions.

“He really wanted to know who those students were and what they were studying,” said Dees, adding: “He meant a lot to Catawba College. He was one of our famous graduates.”

The college Board of Trustees wasn’t the only board Smith belonged to.

According to his obituary, he sat on boards for the United Way, Duke’s Children’s Hospital, the University of North Carolina Research Institute, the Children’s Miracle Network and Foundation for the Carolinas, among others.

“He was constantly looking for ways to give back,” Dees said. “He was a giver. He was absolutely a giver.”