PROCLAMATION
To all whom these letters shall come, Greetings:
Know ye, that the Louisville Metro Legislative Council
hereby proclaims:
WHEREAS, The late Reverend Dr. Gregory Franz Smith was born on December 5, 1951, in the Southwick neighborhood of the Old City of Louisville, as the sixth son to the late Katherine Shacklett Smith and James Arthur “Budd” Smith, and brother to the late Louisville alderman and pastor of Portland Memorial Baptist Church, Rev. Arthur Smith; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith was married to Mrs. Tanya Gelena Allen Smith of Campbellsville, Kentucky and fathered three children with his wife of thirty-four years - Dr. Brandon Deshawn Allen of Nashville, Tennessee, Mrs. Caitlin Franshé Smith Christian of Shelbyville, Kentucky, and Ms. Imani Nicole Smith of Louisville, Kentucky - and was the proud grandfather of four grandchildren; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith accepted his call to the preaching ministry at 13 years old, and was ordained in the Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church and was mentored by the late Reverend C.D. Simmons during his associateship at Greater Friendship Baptist Church; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith, a proud Central High School “yellow jacket” graduated from the school in 1970 and continued his studies at Kentucky State
University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Hampton University, and Simmons College of Kentucky - where he later served on the Board of Trustees and was honored with an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity by Rev. Kevin Wayne Cosby in 2016; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith was called to be senior pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Campbellsville, Kentucky at twenty-one years old and served in the position for nine and a half years, enhancing the church’s community outreach and global missions initiatives; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith was called to be senior pastor of Hill Street Missionary Baptist church in 1982, becoming the church’s third pastor since 1895 - serving the church for thirty-eight years through challenges as: the acquisition of a new campus on Dixie Highway in 2005, a tornado destruction to the building and months of rebuilding in 2008, his own battles with cancer in 2010, and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith led a life of service to others guided by the principle “May the work I’ve done, speak for me” as characterized through his involvement in several capacities, some being: as an Adult Education and Computer Technology instructor through Jefferson County Public Schools; Nulites Youth Coordinator for the Louisville Urban League; ministry instructor for the National Baptist Congress for Christian Education U.S.A. Incorporated; Dean of the J.L. Roberts School
of Religion of the Central District Baptist Association of Kentucky; and Secretary of the General Association of Baptist in Kentucky’s Department of Christian Education; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith stood in solidarity with women preachers during the 1990s in his advocacy for church policies ordaining women into ministry and became one of the first pastors excused from the General Association of Baptist of Kentucky, and later graciously re-entered the association; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith continued his ministry as a pastor and community leader in leading grassroots, resource drive initiatives to respond to natural disasters in Houston, Texas and Flint, Michigan, fulfilling his aim to “...serve this present age, [his] calling to fulfill; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith passed away on December 6, 2020, one day after his sixty-ninth birthday, at the Albert B. Chandler hospital in Lexington, Kentucky due to month-long complications from the Covid-19 virus; and
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith’s life and legacy remain a beloved inspiration to service to community, unwavering leadership, and true, abiding friendship through a “Barnabas” spirit;
SECTION I: Reverend Dr. Gregory F. Smith’s life, service, and continued legacy in the Louisville Metro community be honored with a street sign on Wathen Lane, starting at the Dixie Highway intersection and going east to Seventh Street Road in Louisville, Kentucky, designated as “Rev. Dr. Gregory F. Smith Way”. The Department of Public Works is hereby directed to effect the same as soon as practicable following the passage of this resolution.
Done in Louisville, Kentucky
This 14th Day of March 2026
______________________
Honorable Shameka Parrish-Wright
Third District Councilwoman