Submitted by: Dan Rich

E. Berry Smith

Feb. 21, 1926 - July 29, 2008

South Bend Tribune 7/31/2008
SOUTH BEND - E. Berry Smith, 82, longtime broadcasting executive in Indiana, passed away at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, 2008, in Southfield Village, South Bend. Smith retired in 2001 as Senior Vice President-Broadcasting and Cable at Schurz Communications, Inc., in South Bend, IN. Schurz owns WSBT-TV, the WSBT Radio Group and the South Bend Tribune, as well as television stations and cable systems and newspapers in Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, California and down-state Indiana. Smith, who started at Radio Station WIRE in Indianapolis in 1949, was a member of the Indiana Broadcast Hall of Fame, a director and chairman of the CBS Television Advisory Board, president of the Indiana Broadcasters Association, president of the Southwest Indiana Broadcasters Association and a member of the Broadcasters' Foundation. Smith was made a Sagamore of the Wabash in 1993 by then-Governor Evan Bayh. He was the recipient of the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award in 1973. He was a 1949 graduate of Butler University College of Business Administration and graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis in 1943. He was a life member of Mensa of America, Knights of Columbus, BPO Elks, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and the National Press Club. He was a licensed Indiana Real Estate Broker. Following WIRE in Indianapolis, Smith was Director of Advertising at Franklin Finance, Hartford City, Indiana; CBS Network Sales, Detroit, Michigan; Vice President and General Manager WFIE-TV, Evansville, Indiana (1957-61); Vice President and General Manager WFTV-TV, Green Bay, Wisconsin; Vice President and General Manager WLKY-TV, Louisville, Kentucky; President and General Manager WTVW-TV, Evansville, Indiana (1964-1981; President and General Manager of WSBT Stations (TV-AM-FM) South Bend, Indiana, Senior Vice President Schurz Communications, South Bend, Indiana, until his retirement.

He married Mary Terese Hoffman in Indianapolis in 1948 and she preceded him in death in 1989. He is survived by two sons, Dr. Kevin B. Smith, St. Louis, Missouri, and Martin J. Smith of Indianapolis, Indiana; as well as four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A brother, Robert J. Smith of Lafayette and Monticello, Indiana, also preceded him in death in 2007. The son of Samuel R. and Rosemary Berry Smith, he was born Feb. 21, 1926, in Daytona Beach, Florida. At six weeks of age the family returned to Indianapolis where he was raised and attended elementary and high school. He entered the U.S. Army as a private in 1944 and was separated as a 1st lieutenant in 1946 after service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. He later was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve (1949-61) and separated as a Major, QMC. In South Bend he was on the board of directors of the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce, the board of the Private Industry Council, Junior Achievement of Michiana, Goodwill Industries, and was a member of the South Bend Sales and Advertising Club. He was a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church, the Morris Park Country Club, the Summit Club, University Club of Notre Dame and the Indiana Society of Chicago. In Evansville, In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, 111 Sunnybrook Court, South Bend, IN 46637.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, August 1, 2008, in ST. JOSEPH FUNERAL HOME, 1827 E. Ireland Road, South Bend. Family and friends will meet in the church for a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 2, 2008, in the Cathedral of St. Matthew.