Zoo benefactor, civic leader O. Stanley Smith Jr. dies at 91

O. Stanley Smith Jr., a World War II veteran who founded South Carolina’s technical college system and who inspired the construction of Riverbanks Zoo by displaying the tiger Happy outside of his Gervais Street car wash, died early Sunday morning after a short illness. He was 91.

Smith was born March 18, 1924 in Columbia to O. Stanley Smith Sr., and Learmont “Monti” Stieglitz Smith.

In 1944, during World War II, Smith was a 19-year-old artillery officer in the 75th Infantry Division. He was 6-foot-1 and 135 pounds.

“My friends would kid me than I was so skinny I could turn sideways and never get hit,” he said in a 2012 interview with The State newspaper.

During the war, Smith fought with distinction in the Battle of the Bulge, the Colmar Pocket and at the Ruhr and Rhine rivers, among other battles.

Smith commanded an artillery battery, providing support for advancing American troops.

“They used to say, ‘If you’re ever in a mess, call Smith , O.S.,’ ” he said.

Smith took pride that his battery never killed an American soldier in what is called “friendly fire.” He would sight his guns 400 yards behind the target and “walk” the shells in.

“I wasted a lot of ammunition, but saved a lot of lives,” he said.

In 2012, Smith was awarded the French Legion of Honor, France’s highest military honor. In January, he and two other Battle of the Bulge veterans laid wreaths at the National World War II Memorial and was feted by the Belgian embassy.

After the war, Smith returned to Columbia and in 1948 married Constance “Connie” Edwards. The couple started the Constan Car Wash (Con for Connie, Stan for Stan) – the first automated car wash in South Carolina, his family said. He later would become the East Coast sales representative for a company that manufactured cash wash equipment.

Smith also became involved in civic affairs. In 1961, he was tapped by then-Gov. Fritz Hollings to chair a commission charged with starting a state technical college system.

“I had a one paragraph charter and $250,000,” Smith said in the interview.

He would later serve as chair of the State Advisory Committee for Technical Education.

“His life of 90 something years has personally touched and helped grow hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians,” said communications consultant Sam McCuen, a longtime friend.

“I always called Mr. Smith the ringmaster,” McCuen said. “He and I were always great fans of circuses, would go to circuses organizations down in Sarasota...That’s what brought us together some years ago.”

In 1964, Smith joined the effort to establish a zoo in Columbia. With the help of famous zoologist and television personality Marlin Perkins, he purchased a tiger cub for $1,000 from Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo.

The zoo workers told him only one in four cubs lived past six months.

“For six months, I personally cleaned out its cage and fed it every day,” Smith said.

Smith named the cub “Happy” and displayed her at the car wash on Gervais Street near Harden Street, where school children would visit and donate nickels and dimes to help build the zoo.

It took nearly a decade, but the children’s interest in Happy helped convince politicians that the zoo would be a success and should be funded. Today Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens is the top ticketed attraction in South Carolina and considered one of the best zoos in the nation.

Happy died at the zoo in 1979.

Smith loved circuses and held membership in the Show Folks of Sarasota organization throughout his life.

Smith, his father and grandfather donated the materials and built the Carolina Fieldhouse that hosted the University of South Carolina men’s basketball team during the start of its glory years under coach Frank McGuire. Smith also served terms as president of the Touchdown Club, Tipoff Club and Gamecock Club.

In the 1970s, he developed Fripp Island, and sold St. Phillips Island to media mogul Ted Turner, who designated the latter a nature preserve, his family said. Smith also became chief executive and eventually chairman of Standard Federal Savings and Loan, until 1986.

Smith served as president of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, including a stint as its chairman. Smith was the chamber’s Ambassador of the Year in 1987.

Through the years, he also chaired the Columbia Music Festival Association, the Greater Columbia Community Relations Council and the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties. Smith was worldwide chair of United Way International.

A master fundraiser, Smith chaired the Columbia Bicentennial Committee in 1986. The festivities turned a profit of more than $8,000.

Smith was instrumental in the construction of the Koger Center in Columbia, relatives said. In 1987, he was awarded the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for contributions to the arts in South Carolina.

He held honorary doctorate degrees from USC and Wofford College. Smith served as a Wofford trustee.

But he considered his contribution to the state’s technical college system as his proudest achievement.

“They don’t know who I am, but I get a great thrill when I go in and see people being educated, working for themselves,” he said.

Smith is survived by his wife, E. “Connie” Smith; children, O. Stanley “Chip” Smith III, and wife, Mardi; R. Grant Smith and wife, Anne; and F. Houston Smith and wife, Wendy. Stanley and Connie Smith have six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

This story was originally published May 3, 2015 at 8:07 PM with the headline "Zoo benefactor, civic leader O. Stanley Smith Jr. dies at 91."