George Albert Smith Sr. (April 4, 1870 – April 4, 1951) was an American religious leader who served as the eighth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, Smith was one of nineteen children of Latter Day Saint apostle John Henry Smith. His mother, Sarah Farr, was the first of John Henry Smith's two wives (whom he had simultaneously for many years). His grandfather, for whom he was named, was also an LDS Church apostle as well as a cousin of church prophet Joseph Smith. John Henry Smith and George Albert Smith are the only father and son pair to have been members of the Quorum of the Twelve at the same time, having served in the Quorum together between 1903 and 1910.
In his youth, Smith worked at the Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) factory and traveled throughout Utah as a salesman. Smith attended high school at Brigham Young Academy, graduating in 1884. He then studied law at University of Deseret (later the University of Utah) for a year. His work as a salesman for ZCMI involved a long trip, starting at Panaca, Nevada and moving north-eastward, with Smith taking grocery orders while his associate, James Poulton, took shoe orders. Smith also gave many impromptu concerts on this sales trip, playing on harmonica and guitar with Poulton accompanying on the flute. During this journey Smith would regularly attend LDS Church services on Sundays in the towns he passed through coming north from Panaca. He would be regularly invited to give a talk while visiting.
In 1894, after returning from serving in the church's Southern States Mission, Smith got a job as assistant to a traveling salesman at ZCMI. He excelled at this enough to be promoted to working in the packing box shop, where he again excelled and was promoted to wholesale grocery salesman for ZCMI's Salt Lake County operations.
Smith also served as secretary of the Kanab Cattle Company and a member of the Utah National Guard.
In 1896, he had joined the Republican Party and campaigned for William McKinley, who became President of the United States. He was later present at the Pan American exposition in Buffalo in 1901 and heard the shot that killed McKinley.
He was appointed as a receiver for the Land Office in Utah in the years 1898 and 1903.
While surveying for a railroad as a young man, Smith's eyesight was permanently impaired by glare from the sun. After 1903, Smith found his frequent travels debilitating and began to show prominent symptoms of physical weakness. He was eventually diagnosed with lupus erythematosus, a chronic debilitating autoimmune disease.
From 1898 to 1902 Smith was chair of the Republican committee for the 28th voting district of Utah.
In 1902, there were those who sought to convince Smith to run for the United States Senate. He instead deferred to allow Reed Smoot to be the Republican candidate.
In 1920, while serving as president of the church's European Mission, Smith toured England and Scotland as the ZCMI representative to the American Goods Association tour sponsored by the British Chamber of Trade.
In 1921, Smith became a member of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce. In 1923, he served on the reception committee for US President Warren G. Harding's visit to Salt Lake City.
Smith was known for his patriotism and joined various American patriotic groups. He was also an ardent supporter of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). He was among those closely involved in the 1912 decision for the LDS Church to sponsor scout troops. He also was closely involved in its implementation. Especially in the 1920s, Smith would regularly contact Salt Lake City businessmen to personally urge them to donate money to scouting. In the 1920s Smith was elected a member of the BSA Regional Executive Council for the 12th region. This council oversaw scouting in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. In 1932, Smith was elected a member of the BSA's National Council. He was the first of many leaders of the LDS Church to hold this position. He also received the Silver Beaver Award that year. In 1934, the BSA's National Council awarded him the prestigious Silver Buffalo Award.
Smith was an avid genealogist and family historian and was named national vice president of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1922.
In 1932, Smith found himself at odds with much of the ZCMI board over plans to cut pensions for retirees as the Great Depression caused disruption for the company. Smith felt that the pensions should be left in place. Being unable to support the chosen course of action, he resigned from the board later that year.
Starting in 1933 Smith was president of the Utah Society for the Sightless. He continued in this position until 1949. Under his leadership the society built a new home for the blind in Salt Lake City. They also printed the first Braille edition of the Book of Mormon.
On May 25, 1892, Smith married Lucy Emily Woodruff, a granddaughter of Wilford Woodruff, in the Manti Temple. The couple later had three children. It was several years after their marriage that the first daughter was born, with the pregnancy starting shortly after Woodruff gave Lucy a priesthood blessing to be a mother. Lucy had spent much of her time growing up in the household of her grandfather and looked on him as almost more of a father than a grandfather. Smith's son, George Albert Smith, Jr., became a professor at Harvard Business School.
Smith's daughter Emily Stewart, served for a time on the Primary General Board. Louie B. Felt, the general superintendent of the Primary, guided Stewart to take a hospital training course in Denver expand her medical training she already had as a registered nurse. She then became one of the leaders of Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. She and May Anderson disagreed on how to run the hospital which led to her resignation from the Primary General Board in 1932.