CORNELIA, Ga. — The public is invited to pay final respects to former Cornelia Fire Chief Frankie Smith as a firefighter funeral procession travels through Cornelia and Baldwin on Friday afternoon.
The procession will leave McGahee-Griffin & McEntire Funeral Home in Cornelia at 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 31, and travel through downtown Cornelia, passing the Cornelia Fire Department headquarters station on South Main Street.
Members of the public who want to show support for Smith’s family and the firefighting community are encouraged to line the sidewalks along the route by 1:30 p.m. Officials ask those attending to remain on the sidewalks until the final vehicles in the procession have passed.
Smith died Monday, July 27, at his home in Demorest. He was 75. Smith spent nearly five decades in the fire service, including more than 40 years leading the Cornelia Fire Department. He joined the department as a volunteer in 1968 at age 17, became a full-time firefighter in 1972 and was promoted to fire chief in April 1976.
According to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, Smith dedicated 49 years to protecting residents of Cornelia, Mt. Airy and the surrounding area.
The procession will begin at McGahee-Griffin & McEntire Funeral Home at 175 VFW Post Road, turn right onto Business 441 and then left onto Main Street through downtown Cornelia. It will pass Cornelia Fire Station 2 at 968 South Main Street before continuing into Baldwin.
From Baldwin, the procession will turn left onto the U.S. 441 Bypass and then left onto Ga. 105 in Banks County.
Public visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home and again from noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Funeral services with full firefighter honors will begin at 2 p.m. Friday at Mountain View Baptist Church near Baldwin. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
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