Newton Alexander Smith, III

Newton Alexander Smith, III, age 54 of Claremont, NC passed away at his home on April 26, 2019.

He was born on May 25, 1964 in Charlotte, NC to Newton Alexander Smith, Jr. and Mary Lee Griffith Smith.

He is preceded in death by his father and grandparents.

Alex is survived by his wife, Dr. Lysa Deaton-Smith of the home; his mother, Mary Lee Smith of Davidson, NC, sister and brother-in-law, Lee and Larry Caldwell of Denver, NC; brother and sister-in-law, Neal and Kristi Smith of Cornelius, NC; nephew, Thomas Caldwell, and nieces, Malea and Keeley Smith; mother and father-in-law, Bob Sr. and Phyllis Deaton of Cornelius, NC, brother-in-law and wife, Bob Jr. and Karen Deaton.  He is also survived by his pet dog, Agatha who was very special to him.

Alex graduated from North Mecklenburg High School in 1982, and then graduated from NCSU in 1986 as a Mechanical Engineer and in 1991 became a Professional Engineer.  He began his career with Duke Energy in 1985 where he was employed for 34 years. He was an Eagle Scout and also volunteered for the Cornelius Fire Department for 16 years.  

A visitation will be held from 4:00 – 7:00 pm on Sunday, April 28, 2019 at Raymer-Kepner Funeral Home in Huntersville, NC.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00pm on Monday, April 29, 2019 at Mt. Zion Methodist Church in Cornelius, NC.

Following the service Alex will be laid to rest at Mimosa Cemetery in Davidson, NC.

Donations may be made to Carolinas Aviation Museum or Hickory Aviation Museum.

Duke Energy Profile

Alex Smith is the Nuclear Support Services Manager at McGuire Nuclear Station. Mr. Smith is responsible for the Regulatory Affairs, Emergency Preparedness, Performance Improvement, and Nuclear Procedure Group working groups.

Mr. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the Nuclear Energy industry.  His career began in 1985 in the legacy Duke Power Nuclear General Office. 

He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1986 and licensed as a Professional Engineer in North Carolina in 1991.

His career with Duke Energy continued in the Engineering field through assignments at Nuclear General Office and McGuire Nuclear Station in 1991.  His roles focused on component engineering support for the Ice Condenser system and system engineering responsibility for the Emergency Core Cooling System. 

Mr. Smith joined the McGuire Operations organization and successfully obtained a Senior Reactor Operators license in 2000. Mr. Smith's responsibilities in operations spanned just short of two decades fulfillingthe roles of Shift Technical Advisor, Control Room Supervisor, Operations Human Performance Group Manager, and a nine year tenure asan Operations Shift Manager.

Mr. Smith engaged in a developmental assignment in 2018 leading to an opportunity to manage the newly formed Nuclear Support Services team in 2019.

Mr. Smith has completed INPO leadership development training with most recent completion of the Nuclear Department Level Seminar in 2018.

Mr. Smith serves as Board of Directors for The Pines, at Davidson, a Continuing Care Retirement Community and manages Solstice Farms, a small family farm in Catawba County, NC.