Donald Smith

Donald Smith was born on January 25, 1933, on the outskirts of Albertville, to J.W. (Cooter) and Marie Smith. He attended school in Albertville where he played football for legendary Hall of Fame football coach Vernon Wells in his inaugural year at Albertville. Donald married Marolyn Matthews on May 28, 1950. The couple had two children, the late Don Smith of Albertville and Suzan Smith of Kennesaw, Georgia, and one grandson, Dr. Jon Alan Smith of Albertville.

Donald went to work in the car business with his brother Clinton in 1950 at Clinton Smith Motors, making his first trip to Chicago to buy cars that very same year. Donald is the oldest active car dealer in Marshall County and has been selling cars in North Alabama for the past 60 years. He has been active in the community, helping to set up Albertville’s first Toastmasters club in the late 1950s. As president of the Albertville High School Quarterback Club in 1967, Donald led the club in the purchase of the famed “Aggie” bus, a large commercial Blue Bird bus that transported many generations of Albertville Athletes.

Donald discovered his love of shooting around the age of 12 in the fields surrounding the house in which he was reared. His father, “Cooter,” was an outstanding shooter and Donald started shooting skeet in 1956. He liked the sport so much that he and some other local businessmen started the Marshall County Skeet Club near Hustleville in 1958, where his son and daughter made a quarter for each round of skeet that they “threw” while operating the machinery inside of the skeet houses.

In the early 1960s at the Alabama State Skeet Shoot in Gurley, Donald became the first man in the state to break 100 straight skeet with a 410 shotgun. He teamed with another Albertville shooter and 2010 Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, Henry Cribbs, to win many two- and five-man championships throughout his competitive shooting career. The awards and accomplishments for Donald Smith are too lengthy to mention all; however, some of the most impressive include the following:

Alabama Skeet Shooting Championships (ASSC): Donald was a member of both the five-man and two-man championship or runner-up teams in 410, 20, 28 and 12 gauge shotguns from 1974-80. He was also the State Individual Champion or Runner-up in many individual contests for these guns during that period. In 1979 and 1980, Donald seemed to have his best shooting years, winning at least 15 team or individual state championships and runner-up in 5 more. In both of these years, he was selected to the All-American Shooting Team. In 1980, he was also the Alabama State Pigeon Shoot Champion. From 1982 to 2000, Donald shot in the ASSC Sub-Senior and Senior competitions, continuing to win many team and individual state championships.

Smith proved to be a prolific winner, traveling to and competing in many other meets. In the Zone 4 (Southeastern US) Championships, Donald won or was runner-up 15 times. In the National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) World Skeet Championships, Donald was a winner or runner-up 4 times. He also won many team and individual shoots in the Rock City Invitational in Chattanooga, Tennessee, The Mid-American Open, The U.S. Open, and The Sporting Clay Championships. Donald also participated in charity events helping to raise funds for the Alabama Sheriff’s Youth Ranch.

With numerous victories and awards in his chosen sport, Donald shot skeet competitively for over four decades. He was selected to the All-State Shooting Team in 1974, ’75, ’76, ’78, ’80, and ’81; and the All-American Shooting Team in 1979 and 1980. His skill and dedication was recognized in 1999 with his induction into the Alabama Skeet Shooters Hall of Fame.

Donald and Marolyn have just celebrated their 60th anniversary and still reside in Albertville where Donald continues to sell cars for Jimmy C. Smith in Athens.