Roger Wicker: “my colleague from the Second District of Mississippi and I have the sad duty this morning to report the death of one of…”

“my colleague from the Second District of Mississippi and I have the sad duty this morning to report the death of one of our former House Members from Mississippi, Frank Ellis Smith, who served capably for 6 terms in the House of Representatives and died on August 2 in Jackson, MS, at the age of 79. After fighting in the European Theater during World War II, Frank Smith returned to his hometown of Greenwood to become managing editor of the Greenwood Morning Star. Two years later in 1947 he was elected to the Mississippi Senate, and shortly afterward he came to Washington to serve on the staff of Senator John C. Stennis. He was elected to Congress in 1950 and served until 1962. During that time he was a leader in efforts to bring economic development to the South, serving as president of the Lower Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association. From 1955 to 1962, he was a member of the North American Treaty Organization Parliamentary Committee. In retirement, Representative Smith served as a visiting professor of public policy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and was later special assistant to Mississippi Governor William Winter from 1980 to 1983. He was the only Mississippian ever to serve on the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Representative Smith was the author of six books and edited other publications. He operated a well-known bookstore in Jackson for many years.”