Longtime Coral Gables resident and renowned ophthalmologist Dr. “Doc” Alfred Graham Smith recently passed away.
He was definitely on the list to be a Gables Great, but awaiting his 90th birthday this year to do so. His birthday plans instead became a beautiful celebration of his life as friends and family packed the ballroom at Riviera Country Club on May 12. While there were some tears, there were many laughs as well.
Doc had a great sense of humor and loved a good laugh with his ready smile and sparkling blue eyes. That said, some funny stories were the order of the day for many who loved him, which is most anyone who knew him.
A few months after his passing, friends gathered at his favorite hang out, Burger Bob’s, to raise funds to dedicate a park bench in his name. This bench project is an ongoing effort of the Coral Gables Community Foundation that beautifies our city parks with benches and offers the community naming rights to honor special people.
Doc was a pioneer as a charter member of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) and the first pediatric ophthalmologist in the state of Florida.
Doc founded the pediatric ophthalmology clinic at Variety Children’s Hospital in Miami — now Nicklaus Children’s Hospital — and was on the volunteer faculty of the University of Miami Medical School Ophthalmology Department where he arranged for residents from the newly organized University of Miami ophthalmology residency — now Bascom Palmer Eye Institute — to rotate at Children’s Hospital for their pediatric training.
Doc was predeceased by his lovely wife, Libby, and is survived by three children, Alfred George Smith, Mary Leslie Smith (whom her brothers, with a smile, confirmed was their dad’s favorite), and Marshall Graham Smith as well as six grandchildren. Doc had a purpose-filled life that included a loving family, appreciative patients and so many friends.
