With a wide smile and sharp wit, Larry Smith sits comfortably on his couch and listens while his bride, Linda, shares detailed stories of their life together. Snuggled close on either side of him is a pair of Maltese fondly known as Nelson and Clare. The two chat about their 61 years of marriage, their love of bird watching and the arts—specifically, the arts at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Originally from Brookhaven, Miss., Linda pursued a career in education, earning her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University A&M and her master’s from Cornell University in 1957.
Linda’s love for operatic music derived from an exquisite sound drifting down the halls of her summer school dormitory. As she walked down the hall, she found the source to be the soundtrack of “La Bohème” coming from a record player a few rooms away. A few years after falling in love with the opera genre, she fell in love with a student at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. The two first met on a blind date set up by Linda’s cousin, who happened to be one of Larry’s classmates. They dined at Phillip’s Bar & Grill in uptown New Orleans. The couple married in 1960 and returned to that special restaurant years later to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
The Smiths settled in the Hub City in 1967 after moving multiple times while Larry completed medical school, an internship, residency and public service requirements. Hattiesburg felt like a perfect fit from the beginning. Linda taught school briefly before she left the classroom to raise their children, while Larry began his career as a pathologist at Thomas F. Puckett Laboratory. After nearly 30 years in practice, he retired in 1995.
Though neither are alumni of Southern Miss, Linda and Larry have thoroughly enjoyed musical theatre, symphony performances and a myriad of other arts activities performed at USM. “Right here, in South Mississippi, there is ‘big music,’” said Linda. “Placido Domingo, Yo-Yo Ma, the list is long and impressive.” “I think we saw Charlie Daniels, too,” Larry added.
Though the city has changed and grown immensely, their love for Southern Miss has not waned. For more than 40 years, the couple has philanthropically supported the University by assisting students through the J. Larry and Linda B. Smith Music Scholarship Endowment, the John B. And Charles M. Smith Theatre and Dance Scholarship Endowment, and by giving to the arts, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and many other initiatives. Through a planned gift, the Smiths have also made the USM Foundation the beneficiary of an IRA to activate the J. Larry and Linda B. Smith Fund for Excellence Endowment.
“It’s like the old adage,” Larry explained, “teach a man to fish, and he’ll never go hungry. We support the University because we want to get behind those who live in our community … it betters their lives and ours. There are amazing things happening every day at USM, just right down the street.”
If you are interested in naming Southern Miss as the beneficiary of an IRA to create an endowment or another type of estate gift, please contact Daniel Barton at 601.266.6428 or daniel.barton@usm.edu.