Houston Smith Jr.

Houston Dillard Smith, Jr.
December 18, 1930 - December 30, 2025

Houston Dillard Smith, Jr., age 95, of Decatur, Georgia, passed away on December 30, 2025. Born on December 18, 1930, in Washington, North Carolina, Houston lived a life defined by faith, service, family, and an extraordinary professional legacy spanning more than 75 years.

After moving to Decatur, Houston became a highly respected Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Georgia, Atlanta Division (now Georgia State University), and later completed his MBA at Emory University. He began his accounting career working alongside his father before opening his own accounting firm in Decatur, Georgia. In 1962, he became the founding partner of Smith and Raab, an accounting and financial planning firm where his integrity, wisdom, and dedication shaped generations of clients and colleagues. In 2010, Houston and his partner merged their firm with Robbins, Eskew, Smith, and Jordan, an accounting firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Early in his career, Houston shared his passion for financial literacy by teaching accounting at Georgia State University and worked for the State of Georgia as an Auditor and in the State Budget Bureau.

Houston was deeply committed to his profession and held numerous leadership roles. He served as President of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council and was a founding member of the DeKalb Estate Planning Council. He was a member of the Georgia Society of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, where he helped organize the early development of the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) program and taught the curriculum for many years across the country. He also served as President of the Rotary Club of Decatur and completed two terms as Treasurer of Cherokee Town and Country Club. He was published co-author of an accounting textbook and was a proud veteran, serving ten years in the Georgia National Guard.

A man of deep and abiding faith, Houston loved God and devoted himself to the life of the church. He joined Decatur Presbyterian Church at the age of 18 and held several leadership roles there, including teaching Sunday School, where he especially loved working with fifth- and sixth-grade students. He later became a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where he remained until his death. At Westminster, he was an active participant in adult Sunday School classes, served as a Deacon, and was later ordained as a Ruling Elder, a lifetime appointment. He also served as church Treasurer and was entrusted as one of three church trustees.

Above all his many accomplishments, Houston's greatest joy was his family. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather whose love was steady, generous, and deeply rooted in faith. For 61 years, Houston and Mary shared a life marked by love, partnership, mutual respect, and unwavering commitment. He cherished time spent with family, offering thoughtful counsel, sharing stories from his long career, attending milestones large and small, and enjoying conversations around the table.

Houston took special pride in his role as a grandfather and delighted in watching his grandchildren grow, learn, and pursue their own paths. He was a quiet encourager, a patient teacher, and a constant source of wisdom and support. His family knew they could always rely on him for guidance grounded in integrity, compassion, and love.

Houston had a lifelong love of baseball, a passion that blended seamlessly with his analytical mind. He delighted in the game's history, strategy, and statistics, finding beauty in the numbers that told the story behind every season, player, and pitch. Long before advanced analytics became popular, he studied box scores, tracked player performance, and debated the finer points of the game with friends and family. He was also a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator, a hobby that reflected both his technical curiosity and lifelong love of learning.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Houston Dillard Smith of Dunn, North Carolina, and Blanche Boyd Smith of Washington, North Carolina, and by his son, Houston Dillard Smith III, of Brookhaven, Georgia.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Mary Mattews Smith, his daughter, Samantha Wiseman, his son-in-law, Stephan Wiseman, and his grandchildren, Scott Wiseman, Elena Wiseman, and Zoe Wiseman, along with numerous cousins in North Carolina and Virginia.

Houston will be remembered as a faithful servant, a trusted professional, a devoted family man, and a friend to many. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, church, and colleagues.

A visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 16, 2026, at A.S. Turner & Sons, 2773 North Decatur Road, Decatur, Georgia 30033.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1438 Sheridan Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30324, followed by visitation in the Fellowship Hall. The memorial service will be broadcast and archived on the Westminster Presbyterian Church YouTube channel.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church.