Israel A. Smith, President of the RLDS Church

"...Israel Alexander Smith (February 2, 1876–June 14, 1958) was the third son of Joseph Smith III and a grandson of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Israel A. Smith succeeded his brother, Frederick M. Smith, as Prophet-President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ) in 1946..."

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Alexander_Smith

OBITUARY:

Israel Alexander Smith was born in Plano, Illinois, on February 2, 1876. He was the son of Joseph Smith III and Bertha Madison Smith. The family moved to Lamoni, Iowa, in October 1881, where Israel grew to manhood. He was graduated from Lamoni High School in 1895 and attended Graceland College for two years. He received a Bachelor of Law degree from Lincoln Jefferson University.

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By nature he was reserved and studious. When his father asked him what he wanted to do in life, he said, “I want to be a lawyer.” He studied in a local attorney’s office to acquire his legal knowledge and to get such training as he could from a practical association, supporting himself through various types of employment during this time.

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In 1908 he went to work as an assistant in the editorial department at Herald House and carried on his studies during evening hours. Also in this year of 1908, he was married to Nina M. Grenawalt of Lamoni. Three years later he was elected to the Iowa Legislature. In 1912 he was admitted to the Iowa bar and the next year he took the examination and was admitted to the bar of Missouri.

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His father was now totally blind so Israel, Nina, and son Joseph Perrine Smith, who was one year old, moved to Independence in 1913 where Israel was a constant companion and private secretary to his father until President Joseph Smith died on December 10, 1914. His second son, Donald Carlos Smith, was born at the West Short Street home in 1916.

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As a young man, “I.A.,” as he preferred to be known in his earlier years, was active in sports. He loved baseball and played it quite well. One of his chief forms of recreation of later years was to attend ballgames or watch them on television. He had no hobbies unless his reading could be called that. Most of his reading was associated with his work, whatever that might be. He did not care for fiction but read for enlightenment.

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Israel Smith was a home man. He took his boys on hunting trips and the family vacationed together, but it was hard to get him away from his home for a social evening. He was a quiet and meditative man.

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His son, Joseph, died in 1936 while attending Missouri University. It was a hard blow to the parents. In a prayer uttered following his death, Brother Smith said, “We have loved him dearly and with loving and earnest hands have clung to him. His was a bright and kindred spirit, and if heaven is peopled with spirits such as his, there is where I want to be.”

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Nina Smith, his talented wife, passed to the world of spirits on October 8, 1950. Since then, his son Donald and daughter-in-law Darlene have made their home with him. President Smith had an apartment with a desk and typewriter so he could have privacy as the mood struck him. He did much of his office work in the seclusion of his room. He was fond of his three grandchildren and found it easy to be considerate of both young and old.

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A citizen of broad human interests, he was also a great church leader by the standard of righteous living and practical achievements. Besides membership in the Missouri and American Bar Associations, he once held the presidency of the Iowa Pioneer Lawmakers Association, Optimists International, and the Independence Bar Association. He was a member of the American War Dads, and a trustee of the Tuberculosis, Red Cross, and Historical Societies. He gave much time to his work as president of the Board of Trustees of the Independence Sanitarium and Hospital. Perhaps his most outstanding civic service was as a member of the convention which gave Missouri a new constitution in 1944. There he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Federal Relations.

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Besides his son and family, Israel A. Smith is survived by his sister, Audentia (Smith) Anderson, of Omaha, Nebraska, and his three brothers, Richard C Smith of Kansas City, Missouri, W. Wallace Smith and Reginald A. Smith of Independence, many other relatives and friends.

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Today, we lay to rest the mortal remains of a loving father and grandfather. When a good man has passed the four-score milestone, death holds more of hope and expectation than does more years. He had a strong conviction that his loved ones and the redeemed of all ages await him over there. We have lost a father, brother, neighbor, and friend. He has gained those things which “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.”

SOURCE: http://saintshistorychannel.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/0447-world-chu...

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Israel Alexander Smith (February 2, 1876–June 14, 1958) was the third son of Joseph Smith III and a grandson of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Israel A. Smith succeeded his brother, Frederick M. Smith, as Prophet-President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now known as the Community of Christ) in 1946.

Smith was born in Plano, Illinois on February 2, 1876, the third son and fourth child of Joseph Smith III and Bertha Madison Smith. In 1881, he moved with his family to Lamoni, Iowa, the site of a growing colony of Latter Day Saints of the Reorganization. He attended Graceland College from 1898 to 1900 and later received a B.A. in law from Lincoln-Jefferson University of Hammond, Indiana. From 1911 to 1913 he served as a Republican representative to the Iowa state legislature.

Smith's brother, Frederick, became Prophet-President in 1914. Smith became a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric in 1920. In 1922, many believed that Smith would be called to fill a vacancy in the First Presidency, but Frederick instead called Floyd M. McDowell. Frederick also introduced the concept of "Supreme Directional Control," which Israel opposed as contrary to the teachings of their father, Joseph Smith III. In 1925, Israel was released from the Presiding Bishopric.

Meanwhile, Supreme Directional Control and other changes related to Frederick's leadership precipitated a schism. Many members including Otto Fetting renounced the Reorganization and joined with the Church of Christ (Temple Lot).

From 1929 to 1940, Israel served as the church's general secretary and in 1940, he was finally called to fill a vacancy as First Counselor in the First Presidency. Frederick also designated Israel as his successor at this time. In 1946, upon Frederick's death, Israel became Prophet-President of the Church.

The end of World War II, saw further expansion of the Church overseas. In 1950, Smith went on a Pacific tour, visiting members of the Church in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. In 1952, he toured branches of the Church in Europe.

Smith died in a car accident on June 14, 1958 while driving north along U.S. Highway 69 from Independence, Missouri to Lamoni, Iowa. After his death, the First Presidecy continued to function, composed of the two counselors W. Wallace Smith and F. Henry Edwards until a General Conference of the Church confirmed W. Wallace Smith as his brother's successor later that fall.

[edit]References

Norma Derry Hiles, Gentle Monarch: The Presidency of Israel A. Smith, Herald House: 1991.

Richard P. Howard, The Church Through the Years, Herald House: 1992.

• Residence: Age: 4Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son, Plano, Kendall, Illinois, United States - 1880
• Updated from MyHeritage Match via mother Bertha Smith (born Madison) by SmartCopy: Oct 14 2014, 15:01:32 UTC