In life, we often do not really come to know our parents, our mothers, and our fathers, until we find ourselves running out of time to fully appreciate them.  We only see them as parents.  We don’t necessarily see them as individual men and women who possessed their own hopes, wishes, dreams and aspirations and who had their own stories to tell before they became husbands and wives and mothers and fathers that went to work to support and to raise families.

Pursuing his dreams and aspirations, John Augustus Smith left the island of St. Kitts and was admitted to the United States as an immigrant on December 29, 1928.  Nellie Pecola Vaughan left Murfreesboro, North Carolina for New York city around that time, where she met and married John and they began their family.  Their third child, William James Smith was born in Harlem Hospital on March 9, 1940.  Bill grew up in Amityville, NY and graduated from Amityville’s Memorial High School in 1957.  He served in the Marine Corps from 1958 to 1964, achieving the rank of Lance Corporal.  Bill married Averil Diana Derrick in 1963 and they moved in with his parents at 16 Pine Road, North Amityville, before moving into their own home at 18 Poplar Road.  Their union produced two children Bryant A. Smith (now Muhammad) and Sharon Smith (now Aminah Okantah).  He went to night school and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Hofstra University, while working as a loan officer for Chase Manhattan Bank.  In pursuit of better opportunities for his family, he relocated to Cleveland to take a job at Ameritrust Bank, moving the family to Shaker Heights in 1979—first at 3542 Townley Road and then at 16619 Aldersyde Drive.  Once in the Cleveland area, he went back to school at night and earned a master’s degree in business from Cleveland State University, becoming a member of the National Black MBA Association.

Eternally youthful, Bill enjoyed looking young.  He always loved it when people routinely told him that he did not look his age.  He always acted young. He always marched to the rhythm of his own drum.  He loved his custom cars—a Porsche, an Audi, a Mercedes.  He loved traveling, the latest gadgets, music, golf, and photography.  He created a home dark room where he developed, framed, and displayed his art around the house.  He loved drawing and came to love his health.  He quit smoking cold turkey, started playing racquet ball and running in road races like the local Revco 5K.  Always adventurous, he even earned a skydiving certificate in 2007 at the young age of 67.  He loved his children and his grandchildren; asking them to call him GP because he couldn’t stand being called Grandpa.  After leaving the bank, he pursued his dreams and aspirations by moving to San Diego, California in 1992.  For a brief period, he opened a Moto Photo store and eventually became Adjunct Faculty teaching business classes at the University of Phoenix from 1998 until he returned to Ohio in 2015.

Bill was predeceased by his sister, Doris Elaine Smith.  He is survived by his sister, Margaret Fraser.  His children, Bryant Muhammad and Aminah Okantah; daughter-in-law, Yvonne Daugherty; son-in-law, Mwatabu Okantah and grandsons-in-law, Mark Cooley & Eric Edwards.  His grandchildren: Cristen, Ahmad, Jamila, Afrikiti, Ile-Ife, Sowande & Berhane.  His great

grandchildren: Tristan, Kenton, AJ, Ezra, and Ezekiel; many nieces, nephews, cousins, and

friends. William James “Bill” Smith joined the House of the Ancestors on November 10, 2021.  He walked his path through this world in his own way with dignity and with kindness.  He blessed us with his Joy of Life.  We already miss him, but his presence will live on in our hearts and in our memories forever.  He has joined the Angels.  No more suffering.  He is at peace.