Melville H. Smith

Melville Smith, aka ‘Smitty’, or ‘Mel’, was born in 1931 in Coultart Grove, St. Ann. His parents were Maud Foreman, a hotel worker and small farmer, and Malcolm Smith who was a government sanitary health inspector who later became an entrepreneur, owning a cinder block manufacturing and building supply company. Melville attended the Claremont Government School through form six, later learning electrical skills as an apprentice.

Melville was determined from the start, and was known to ride his bicycle from St. Ann’s Parish to Kingston and back, 56 miles each way, along Jamaica’s hilly, winding roads. He built a house for his mother in Coultart Grove, St. Ann and was also a great help to his father, proudly helping him plant and tend the family properties in Clarks Town, Trelawny and Claremont. He was always very protective of his family, especially his young brother, Melton.

Melville came to America in 1960, eventually landing in Brooklyn. He found gainful work as an electrician, at a time when it was very difficult to come to the US and get employment. But he learned his way around and soon found work all over Manhattan in various high-rises throughout the city.

At work in Manhattan they said, “You good man, you can work man. You do anything, you fix anything!”. A German co-worker once remarked “You’d get a boot in the ass if you wasn’t good”. When layoffs came he was often kept on because of his skilled workmanship. Later, he got certified as an electrician and began working for better pay as an independent contractor.

Nothing scared him, he once said; he just needed the job and he would do it. While he initially intended to save money and return back to Jamaica, he found himself in high enough demand that he stayed in the US, often returning to Jamaica to visit. At the same time he supported both sides of his family back home, eventually attaining full citizenship and helping some of them to do the same.

In the 1960s he married, briefly, to a Jamaican-American compatriot. Later, he went back to Jamaica for a visit and when he returned to Brooklyn he greeted a newborn son, Mark.

To maximize his earning potential, and secure lodgings for himself and Mark - who came to live with him at the age of seven - Melville alternated periods of self-employment with full time work, becoming a superintendent in his later years. He adored his son and attended carefully to his education, nurturing his dreams while allowing him the independence to develop initiative and cultivate his own talents. Mark remembers fondly that his father helped him purchase his first technology - a hard drive from Toys R Us, and later a PC - at a time when it was somewhat rare.

While he enjoyed his life in Brooklyn, in roughly 2010 Melville relocated to Marietta, Georgia to be closer to Mark, sister Hazel aka "Mitty," nephews Skip and Teddy and nieces Paulette, Yvonne and Carol, later welcoming daughter-in-law, Georgi into the family. On his mother’s side he is survived by his sister Nora aka ‘Pepsi’, and his brother Melton. On his father’s side he is survived by sister Vicki and Fioni and brothers Everard, Robert and Trevor, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded by his dear sisters Noreen, Eileen, Yvonne, Mavis and Hazel, his elder brothers Elvin and Keith, and brother Randolph.

His easygoing manner earned him many affectionate friends, even well into his 90s, and he retained his low-key style and sense of humor until the end. He will be missed.