Carrol A "Pops" Smith - Rest in Peace
- a kind and gentle man
Carroll Anderson Smith was born in Ft. Meade, Florida on May 7, 1936 to Perry F. Smith and Helen F. Smith.
They moved to the family acreage on Conner Rd in Lake Wales, Florida when he was a small boy. His father was a real estate broker and carpenter; his mother was a bookkeeper and an excellent gardener. Carroll graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, where he enhanced his interests in metallurgy and science. He moved to New Jersey to work for Standard Oil Company, and then moved to Miami in the 1970s, where he began teaching at the University of Miami. Carroll met Cynthia L. Roy, a student at the UM Marine Biology Lab, and they married in 1980. Carroll and Cindy moved to the family homestead in Lake Wales to raise their only child. The Roy/Smith family became immersed in the Florida folk music scene, and Carroll was a skilled and talented artist, with a wide range of interests including goldsmithing and clawhammer banjo. His knowledge of banjo history and folklore were well known throughout the southeast, and he was loved by his folk music family. He died at home on May 15th, 2017. Carroll's life was be honored with One More Jam in Tampa, Florida on June 3rd, 2017.
