CJCAT Loses Leader, FriendBobby Smith, 1946-2005

Polk County Commissioner Bobby Smith died Oct. 19, 2005, at Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital of congestive heart failure. He was 59 years old.
Jack Bob “Bobby” Smith was born May 16, 1946, in Houston, and he was a lifelong resident of Polk County. He graduated from Livingston High School and Stephen F. Austin State University.
“Bobby has served as a Polk County commissioner for 19 years and has been a champion for the people of Polk County since long before assuming that office,” said Polk County Judge John P. Thompson. “He will be sorely missed.”
Survivors include two sons, Brett Smith and Brandon Smith; his sister and brother-in-law, Jeanne Ann and Johnny Byrd; and two grandsons, Lane Smith and Brady Smith.
Smith was an active member of his community and was especially dedicated to area youth. One of his favorite hobbies was raising scholarship money through the Polk County Area Go Texan Committee. He was a charter member and president of the Onalaska Youth Sports Association, which he served for 20 years.
Smith was the current district chairman of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and a member of the Rodeo’s Breeder Greeters Committee. He was a charter member and past chief of the Onalaska Volunteer Fire Department.
As a county commissioner, Smith took leadership roles in area and statewide government. At the time of his death, he was a board member of the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) and an inaugural class member of Texas Cooperative Extension’s V.G. Young Institute of County Government Commissioners Court Leadership Academy.
Smith served on the board of directors of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments and was vice president of the TAC board for two years.
He was elected to every office of the North and East Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association and the statewide County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas.
In 2000, Smith received his Curriculum 2000 Certificate, signifying his completion of a comprehensive, 64-hour advanced course study of county government.
Smith was a beloved member of his community and his county government family, and he will be dearly missed.
Memorial donations may be made to the Onalaska Volunteer Fire Department or the Polk County Area Go Texan Scholarship Fund. Donations to either organization can be sent to P.O. Box 1388,Onalaska TX, 77360.