Allen L. Smith, Jr.

Allen L. Smith, Jr., local attorney, died on January 11, 2015 at Harbor Hospice in Lake Charles. He was 78. Allen, was a native of Woodville, Mississippi and a graduate of Baton Rouge High School, Class of 1954. He graduated from the LSU School of Engineering in 1959 with a B.S. degree in Petroleum Engineering and from the Paul M. Hebert School of Law at LSU with a Juris Doctorate in 1964. He was Order of the Coif. He moved to Lake Charles to begin practicing with Plauche & Plauche and has been with the firm, now Plauche, Smith & Nieset, for fifty years. For the past fourteen years, he served as General Counsel for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury. Allen was a member of numerous professional organizations and was admitted to practice before all Louisiana State courts, all U.S. District Courts in Louisiana, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. His achievements include: President of the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association in 1978; President of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel in 1987; Inductee to the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame in 1987; recipient of the Louisiana State Bar Association President's Award in 1990; recipient of the Louisiana State Bar Foundation Curtis R. Boisfontaine Trial Advocacy Award in 2004; and recipient of the Judge Albert Tate American Inns of Court Professionalism Award in 2010. Allen was also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was a Knight of Kappa Alpha Order. Allen also contributed his time and talent to the community while serving for the past twenty-two years as a member of the Airport Authority of Airport District No. One, the governing authority, of the Lake Charles Regional Airport. He served for several years on the Fire and Police Civil Service Board. He was an avid jogger, hunter, skier, outdoorsman, a member of the Lottie Wildlife Protective Association, Harley Owners Group, National Rifle Association and former member of the YMCA Lunch Bunch. He was an active member of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church and served on the vestry at various times. Survivors include his wife of 35 years, Shirley Chumley Smith; sons, Allen L. Smith III (Lizette) of Alexandria, La. and Jon Scott Gwatney of Lake Charles; daughter, Brent Anne Nicolini of Lafayette, La.; grandsons, Jon Scott Gwatney, Jr. (Megan) of Baton Rouge, La. and Allen Joseph Nicolini of Lafayette, La.; one great-granddaughter, Laikyn Renee Gwatney of Baton Rouge, La.; a brother, Robert P. Smith of Florida; his brother-in-law, Spencer Chumley of Colorado Springs, Co., numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews; and a host of friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Allen L. Smith and Margaret Davis Lewis Smith and two daughters, Margaret Roy Smith and Janet Lynn Gwatney. Gathering in celebration and memory of Allen's life will be Friday, January 16, 2015 from 4:45 p.m - 8:00 p.m. at the Old Calcasieu Parish Courthouse in Courtroom A. Memorial services will be at 2:00 PM Saturday, January 17, 2015 at St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, 123 West Sale Road, Lake Charles. The Reverend Petroula Ruehlen will officiate with Reverend Debra Heathcock assisting. Visitation will be from 1:00 PM until the start of service at St. Michael. Private Interment services will follow at Orange Grove Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Don Bruno, Dr. J. W. DiGiglia, Jeffrey M. Cole, S. Mark McMurry, David Reinauer, John F. DeRosier and Farrell Naquin. Honorary pallbearers will be members of Plauche, Smith & Nieset and members of the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to any of the following: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Lymphoma Research, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, Texas 77210-4486; Genesis Therapeutic Riding Center of West Calcasieu-Cameron Hospital, 886 Landry Lane, Sulphur, La. 70663; the Shirley and Allen L. Smith, Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, LSU Law Center, 110 LSU Union, Baton Rouge, La. 70803-0106; St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, 123 West Sale Road, Lake Charles, La. 70605 or a charity of one's choice.