Garnett Smith was born and raised in Pulaski, Virginia. His career exemplifies the idea that hard work and determination make it possible to achieve any goal. After the death of his mother, Smith began working, at age 13, bagging groceries at a local store. While in high school, he worked afternoon, evening, and weekend shifts at the local newspaper — taking breaks to return to school for basketball practice.

With a good high-school education in hand, Smith began his 43-year career at Advance Auto Parts, then known as Advance Stores, an auto-and-home-supply chain based in Roanoke. He was promoted to assistant store manager in 1962 and continued to move through the ranks. By the middle of 1996 Advance owned 660 stores, generating an estimated $808 million in annual revenues. At the time it was ranked as the second largest auto parts chain, trailing only AutoZone with its 1,300 stores and $1.8 billion in sales. In 1997, Mr. Smith became CEO of Advance Auto Parts, Roanoke Valley’s only Fortune 500 Company. He retired in 2000 as vice chairman of the board.

Smith’s career and life are built on the principle of giving recognition and guidance to others. In 2001, he was named one of Roanoke’s 50 Most Influential People. He has served on the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center Board of Directors as an officer for 35 years, is a former board member of United Way of Roanoke, and he has held every office, including president, in the Pulaski Jaycees. Smith has been involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Taubman Museum of Art, Goodwill Industries, Virginia Tech, and the American Cancer Society. Being named the 1998 Outstanding Philanthropist of the Roanoke Valley is one of many awards he has received.

At Virginia Tech, Smith has served on the Virginia Tech Foundation board and as a volunteer in various roles for The Campaign for Virginia Tech: Invent the Future. His generosity has benefited the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center, athletics, University Libraries, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, the Marion Dupont Scott Equine Medical Center, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, the Holtzman Alumni Center, and the Skelton Conference Center. Smith’s contributions have also targeted endowed scholarships, benefitted capital projects, and provided unrestricted support.

Smith and his wife of 49 years, Patsy Thomas Smith, are the namesakes of the Virginia Tech Smith Career Center. He is a Golden Hokie, a Legacy Society member, and a President’s Circle member of the Ut Prosim Society, the university’s most prestigious donor recognition society. He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2002.

Garnett Smith was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jim Arend was born in Windsor, Ontario in 1937 to George and Minnie Arend. While in high school, Jim ran track and was a member of the Essex Scottish rite drum corps.  Serving in the corps was an honor and the highlight of the school year was the military ball, which eliminated the need for a tuxedo because the proper dress for the event was tartan kilts and feather bonnets.  The standard high school experience in Canada was a five-year program, and the last year was an opportunity to take freshman level college classes in the high schools.   Jim graduated in 1956 from Walkersville Collegiate Institute, and in the fall of that year he was accepted to Assumption University of Windsor.  By attending college in his hometown, he chose to live at home. 

As a senior in college Jim was elected President of the Commerce Club.  This gave him an opportunity to visit and question local businesses about their operations and available positions.  Jim graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree which is equivalent to the United States’ Business Administration degree.  Due to his active role with the Commerce Club Jim had a good idea where he wanted his career to begin.  He was attracted to London Life Insurance Company and fortunately he was hired by the company upon graduation from college.

Jim became a U.S. citizen in December 1974 and began a career at Hartford Insurance, which spanned over 18 years.    Midway through his tenure at Hartford the company was acquired by ITT.   In Europe, ITT is known for microwaves, televisions, computers, and like most companies that divest their interests they owned an insurance company.  The insurance arm was Abbey Life. Abbey had some very popular products, which were a combination of Life insurance and mutual funds, but they did not have the systems to support the rapid growth of the company.  Jim was asked to join Abbey to lead their systems development effort and in 1977 the family moved to Bournemouth, England.  Jim was elected Assistant Director of the company in 1977.

Late 1978 the Arend family returned to Hartford, CT.  Jim’s friend throughout his career has been John Hahn and it was John who enticed Jim to the Roanoke area in 1986 to become Atlantic Mutual’s new Senior Vice President.  Jim oversaw the single largest location for Atlantic Mutual that houses Corporate, Property & Casualty, Commercial, Personal, Marine, plus the technology.  Atlantic Mutual was among the first insurance companies in the country to offer “package policies” (the combination of many types of coverage into one unified policy) to the commercial market. They were also an early leader in the multiple line field and were one of the first insurance companies to implement electronic data processing. Atlantic Mutual’s history of innovation, combined with a reputation for service and financial stability, has earned Atlantic Mutual a position of influence in the insurance industry that surpasses their size.

Jim’s milestones while at Atlantic were centralizing all the processing that occurred in 23 offices, revamping the eighteen-month raters and policy writing training sessions. The adage of working smarter rather than harder assured a better work environment for the Processing Centers’ 650 employees.  The Roanoke operation gained a reputation for high quality work and service and over the years many new operations have been moved to Roanoke from across the country.

Jim says his proudest moments have resulted in his involvement in the Roanoke Valley.  Jim has served as chairman of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Roanoke Valley, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, and the Roanoke Valley Business Council.  In 2001, Jim chaired Goodwill Industries of the Valley as they grew from a $3 million entity to a $20 million presence in the valley and surrounding counties.  His commitment to affordable education has resulted in eight years’ service on the Virginia Western Community College board of directors.  He currently serves on the Virginia Western Foundation Board and the Jefferson Center Foundation Board and Executive Committee. He is also Treasurer and Executive Committee member of the Art Museum of Western Virginia. He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2003.

Jim Arend was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2003.

Alvin Barnett Fink was born on October 21, 1925, in Selma, Alabama. His family moved to Roanoke in 1928. Mr. Fink was a graduate of Jefferson High School and the University of Virginia. He was a veteran of World War II serving in General Patton’s 3rd Army as a medic. He became a pharmacist by trade, and owned a drug store in Salma, Alabama, He eventually had to close the business in the 1920s because of the sinking economy and moved to Roanoke to work for a jewelry business. In 1929, the jeweler he was working for lost everything in the stock market crash of the great depression. Mr. Fink ended up pushing a wooden jewelry cart in downtown Roanoke selling jewelry that he had on consignment to customers to whom he extended credit.

In 1969, Alvin Fink became the president of Fink’s Jewelers, which had been established by his father, Nathan Fink, in a storefront on Campbell Avenue in 1930.  Under his leadership, the family business continued to flourish and evolved into a dynamic 15-retail-store chain in Virginia and North Carolina with locations in Lynchburg, Richmond, Charlotte, and Durham; and A visionary leader, Alvin Fink was a knowledgeable diamond merchant and an adventuresome entrepreneur who traveled the world in search of the perfect gemstone, The Fink’s corporate headquarters was located in downtown Roanoke until 2004, when new offices were completed and opened on Electric Road in Roanoke County.

Mr. Fink served as CEO of Fink’s Jewelers and president of Jewelers of America, and as a lifetime honorary director of the Virginia Retail Jewelers Association. He also served on numerous other civic and professional boards, including the Mountain Trust Bank, the Roanoke Merchants Association, the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau, the American Cancer Society, the Roanoke Symphony Society, the YMCA, Junior Achievement, and Temple Emanuel, and Downtown Roanoke Inc.

Mr. Fink was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2003. He died on March 20, 2006. He will be fondly remembered for his professionalism and ardent love of his craft.

Alvin Fink was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2003.

Regine Nozice, who was born in Poland in December 1924. Her mother met her father, American James Archer, while working for the U.S. Army, and shortly thereafter became parents to Regine and three years later to younger sister Jacqueline.  Given the era, the Nozices relocated to Belgium in the early 1930s where they operated their own business.  Mr. Nozice had a great passion for literature and probably would have been a poet, and it was Mrs. Nozice that had a real head for business.  It was the war that brought together the parents and it would be war again that would disrupt life in Belgium with the German invasion and destroying the only passages, bridges into Liege, Belgium during World War II. The family was forced to assume a false name and hide in a convent in Belgium following the Nazi invasion until the area was liberated in 1944.

Regine was educated in Belgium and went through Grammar school knowing that by the age of twelve she would have to decide on her next path in the system either college prep or trade school, and she embarked upon the College Prep High School track.  For the next six years she attended Lycée Leonie De Waha and followed the Humanities curriculum that focused heavily on the languages- ancient and modern, Greek culture, and the Sciences.  The school day was seven hours in length, and there were no extra-curricular activities.  Upon graduation students in the College Prep program had to take a pass entrance exam for college in Belgium and if students were coming into the U.S. the exam would equate to two years in college.  World War II interrupted Regine’s education and she and her family dealt with the German occupation for four years and the Battle of the Bulge. As the Germans were bombing the bridges in her town (known for its canals and bridges), they finally convinced her mother to leave the home for a safer environment.  The Nozice family headed west for freedom and France, along with thousands of others.  When they reached Dunkirk, all efforts appeared bleak because it was surrounded by the Germans.  Three long weeks of traveling like nomads brought them back to Liege, Belgium and to their delight the family home was still standing, receiving no structural damage.  Of course, all Regine’s mother could state was “I told you I didn’t want to leave, and you see nothing happened.”   Regine was accustomed to working and with the war closing many lucrative businesses she went onto the US Army base and landed a job in the Quarter Master Depot typist pool, and because of her fine command of the English language because of schooling, Regine oft times was called on to interpret. 

While working on the typist pool she met and eventually married James Milton Archer, Jr US service man from Saltville, VA.   James was a VPI graduate of the 1942 class, and he obtained the rank of Major.  Regine and James married in 1945 and within a year became parents in Belgium to first-born Nancy Ellen.  The war was coming to an end, and this led to the start of an interesting journey for Regine and baby Nancy from Brussels to Paris, to board a train in Northern Germany and a brief stay at the Army compound Brammer Hommer and then aboard the Liberty Ship for a solid month along with many other war brides.   The two arrived in January 1947 at a new land and met James and the immediate Archer family for the first time.

Once on the US soil Regine boarded a train in New York City with James and baby in tow and tucked away was a $500 bill given to her by her father who wanted to provide her a way back home in case she had a change of heart about being in the U.S.  The final stop was at the train station in Glade Springs VA where Mr. Archer awaited his new grandchild and daughter-in-law.  Once in the big black car they traveled miles on roads with no end until they reached Saltville, VA a company town run by Mathieson Alkali Works.  The town’s biggest production was coal ash and chemicals from the many caverns in the hillsides.  Mr. Archer Sr. was a controller for Mathieson and with the position came the largest company home, once owned by Jeb Stuart’s widow. 

Besides Mr. Archer Sr. and his wife there was another son, and the youngest child was a daughter.  Mathieson Alkali also owned a hotel in town for its visiting owners, teachers, and business lawyers.  Shortly after Regine’s arrival in Saltville the huge hotel lost its manager, and the position was offered to Regine’s mother-in-law.  The move to the hotel for the whole family meant private living quarters, a private dining room and meeting the most interesting people traveling through SW Virginia.  Mrs. Archer, Sr. coordinated pool parties, card parties, and dance parties, so it was becoming an era of celebrations with soldiers returning to the U.S. and creating new families. 

After approximately nine months residing in the hotel, James, Regine, Nancy, and newborn Bob headed to Johnson City, TN to settle as James took on the position of Manager for a soft drink bottling company.  This new job was an opportunity for James to work alongside his VPI classmate Charlie Gordon. Work was prosperous for thirteen years in TN during the same time the Archer clan was growing with the births of Jim, Paul, and Evelyn. Now there were five children. Over that time in TN many contacts were made with distributors in the region.  One George Sampson wasn’t content with his situation as a Miller beer distributor in Johnson City he had learned of a distributorship with ten employees that was looking for managers.  George talked his brother and James Archer into this new business venture and together the three came to Blue Ridge to distribute soft drink and beer product lines.  One and a half years after the three gentlemen were in business together, George’s brother died, and George asked James if he was interested in buying out their portion of the business.  Thus in 1959 the Archers moved to Salem to officially take the reins of Blue Ridge Beverage with a total of 10 employees and four trucks.  As the business took a foot hold in Beverage distribution, Mr. Archer was approached by a Northern Virginia distributor and encouraged to buy their Roanoke business that had a wine interest, if they purchased the new business it would come with an office and warehouse person who knew everything about wine, all they would have to do is get out to the public.  A new product was introduced at Blue Ridge and there was a new addition to the Archer household with the birth of the last child, Jackie. 

James Archer gave his all to make his new company a profitable entity and like all businesses it had its highs and lows.  The real turnaround came when the Miller Brewing Company was bought by Philip Morris and took the beverage from the number nine to the number two beer in the country.  This upward shift in consumption took place in 1972 and resulted in a tremendous growth in sales for Blue Ridge that James was able to experience before his untimely death in December 1972.

Each of the Archer children were college educated and encouraged to pursue their desired professions which led to degrees from Virginia Tech, W & L, in Business, Microbiology, two in engineering, and a music major.  Of course, like most family-owned businesses, the children worked in a variety of positions during the summers off from school and holidays.  As a result, when James Archer Sr. passed away Bob was already on the payroll, and he was second to his mother who took over the reins.  The biggest obstacle was convincing the Miller Brewery powers that this woman indeed understood the business and would continue to keep it a strong distributorship.  Thankfully, they listened to reason and offered her support.  As time marched on Regine Archer added other distribution locations in Waynesboro, Lynchburg, and South Boston, in addition to the headquarters in Salem, she has held the position of President for thirty years and for the last two years she has been the Chairman of the Board.  

Even though Regine did not plan on running a business, she took it on methodically and was able to keep it solvent with help from a great staff and all her children who have served as office manager, marketing manager and to this day the plants outside of Salem are being managed by her children. Her words of advice to young people going into business for themselves is “have a plan – for life, for investors—never lose sight of your goal, use your head and use your eyes!”

In 2005, Regine was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame; in 2006, she was named a Miller Legend by SABMiller for her four-decade commitment to Miller Brewing Company and to the beer industry in general; and in 2013, she was conferred an honorary Doctor of Commerce degree by Roanoke College. Archer’s graciousness has benefited the Roanoke and Salem communities in a number of ways. Among them, the Archer Family Endowment within the Salem Educational Foundation, established in memory of her late husband. Awards from this endowment are given to academically outstanding graduates of Salem High School who plan to attend a four-year college or university. Additionally, she has been a loyal supporter of Roanoke College and created the Regine Archer Endowed Scholarship for International Students and has served on the College’s Fine Arts Endowment Committee.

Regine Archer was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2005.

John Vaughn was born in Blackstone in 1925, he attended Blackstone elementary and Blackstone high school. The family moved to Newport News in 1941 where his father worked as an electrician in the shipyards. Young john took the change in stride graduating from Morrison high school as class president and valedictorian at the age of 17. After graduation, he worked in the shipyards himself, but continued to study, taking, and passing the navy’s officer training exam known as the v-12 – which landed him at Duke University.

He graduated from duke in 1947 with a degree in electrical engineering and the rank of ensign in the naval reserves. While at duke he met Audrey hatcher – a nursing student from Roanoke. They dated for two years, and during that time john also became acquainted with the star city as he visited Audrey’s family in Roanoke. In 1947, the couple married.  Audrey became an instructor in the school of nursing at Roanoke memorial hospital, and john took a job with Appalachian Power as a power sales engineer.

John’s job in those days was to convince businesses with their own generators that it would be cheaper to buy power from APCO, with the slogan, “a good product at a good price.” Vaughan began taking steps up the career ladder in 1949 when he was appointed district commercial manager in Fieldale.  Meaning among other things he and Audrey needed to re-locate and buy their first car for 2400 dollars. – a lot of money for a man making about 200 dollars a month!

By 1955 the family was back in Roanoke, where there were more advancements at APCO.  First as district commercial manager, then Roanoke division commercial manager, and in 1960 system supervisor of commercial and industrial sales. In ‘61 john and the family moved to Boston for a year, so he could participate in the Sloan fellowship at MIT, where he would study and spend time meeting world business and political leaders from Bobby Kennedy to the German prime minister.

Upon completion of his masters at MIT it was back to Virginia where he led the company’s efforts in Lynchburg from ‘66 to ‘70. Beginning in the 60’s the second generation of electrical users evolved – and while they wanted convenience, they also had serious questions about the environment. It was during this time that John Vaughan’s leadership and intellect were so important to the power company. In 1957, he advised a Junior Achievement Company Program that fashioned cookie sheets from aluminum and received national attention for their efforts. According to JA minute books, John Vaughan was nominated to fill a vacancy on the Roanoke JA Board of directors in November 1962. This level of involvement was initiated by Mr. Vaughan’s APCO predecessors and has spanned the decades.  Today, Appalachian management mirrors Mr. Vaughan’s board tenure and continues to mentor JA students in both Roanoke and Lynchburg, raises funds and sets policy for the organization.”

The demand for power brought with it the need for new power plants and transmission lines. The energy crisis of the early 70’s brought its own problems for energy suppliers and APCO pursued several unpopular rate increases. Vaughan was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1973.  He steered the company through countless hearings in front of government committees and angry citizens in Richmond, Charleston, WV, and Washington – often taking the brunt of the criticism and answering probing questions himself.  One news account says he never flinched in the face difficulty, and never hesitated to do what was best for the utility.

He spent the final 17 years of his career as company president, where he considers among his many successes, the creation of the neighbor-to-neighbor program, the conversion of Roanoke’s streetlights to high pressure sodium, and the mountaineer plant which holds the record for continuous power operation. John also served actively on such boards as Dominion Bankshares, community hospital, Carilion, Hollins College and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.   He served as campaign chair of the United Way and president of both the Roanoke and Lynchburg United Way organizations. He was a member of the Governor’s Industrial Development Services advisory board, and president of the Public Utilities’ Association of Virginia. In December of 1989, APCO named its new service center the “John W. Vaughan Center” in his honor. He was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2004.

John Vaughn was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2004.

T.A. (Trever) Carter was born in 1927 in Bluefield, West Virginia 1927.  Growing up in the depression forced T. A. to be a survivor, having attended 13 different schools in West Virginia, Ohio, and Virginia before graduating from high school.  Given the times his father moved often to seek employment that would allow his family a decent living.  T. A. graduated with the class of ’45 from Jefferson High School.   T. A. attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute for two semesters studying electrical engineering.  WW II interrupted his education when he enlisted in the U. S. Navy and had the opportunity to work with radar, the newest military technology of the time.  This tour of duty included electronics boot camp in California and the base was Hotel Dumonte and the USS Sperry submarine.  Once the war was over, T.A. was stationed in San Diego as a tender and his main task was to get rid of spare parts.  At the end of his tour T. A. returned to VPI and changed his mind about his degree and enrolled in the school of architecture to graduate in 1951.

His first job out of college was with Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern and he was charged with refurbishing the Radford Arsenal in preparation for the Korean War, the K&W Cafeteria and WSLS Channel 10 studios.  The offices of HSMM were in the Coulter building where he worked on multiple projects including a home for Cabell Brand, these experiences would give him the knowledge base along with his architecture degree to obtain his license.  His very first project as a professional was the construction of the Stuart-McQuire Company headquarters in Salem.  The multitude of projects completed for HSMM, and the recent acquisition of his architect license stirred his vision and desire to go out and create his own architecture firm, T A Carter Architects, housed in the Patrick Henry Hotel.  He and a fellow architect Byrd Barksdale worked with Stover Barton, a realtor, to set their prospects for the New River and Roanoke Valleys.

As a new businessman T.A. relied on his network of friends and acquaintances, and one of the most fruitful partnerships occurred with T. D. Steele that led to years of vision, profit, and a fierce work ethic.   These two gentlemen were responsible for the design and development of Crossroads Mall, the second enclosed mall, but the first on the east coast, Tanglewood Mall and the apartment complexes that are adjacent to each shopping area. T. A. desired to build structures that blend into the environment, and he created a diverse portfolio of his designs for the Stonegate community, Southside Hills, Chapel Forest, Hunting Hills, Braxton Heights developments in the Roanoke Valley.  Additionally, T. A. single-handedly designed, built, and owned interest in the first franchises of the Marriott Hotels adjacent to the Roanoke Airport and on Prices Fork Road in Blacksburg.  T.A. together with George B. Cartledge, Sr. and John W. Hancock, Jr. were on the committee that developed Explore Park to capture the rich history of the valley. 

Besides creating beautiful structures for business and pleasure, T. A. has served as a board member for Roanoke Electric Steel, Virginia Western Community College, and the Explore Park. T. A.’s commitment to education and the work ethic is apparent in his creation of scholarships for children that inhabit the island of St. John, assisting VWCC college grads with transferring into architecture at Roanoke College and endowing the professorships for the VT School of Architecture.

T.A. Carter was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2006.

Junius Blair Fishburn was born on September 27, 1865, in Boones Mill, Franklin County. For reasons unknown, late in the nineteenth century Fishburn and other members of his family dropped the e from their surname.

In May 1889, after helping sell stock to raise capital for his uncle Tipton Tinsley Fishburn’s newly organized National Exchange Bank, in Roanoke, Fishburn took a job as its first cashier. He became a director of the bank in 1894 and vice president in 1901. After serving as its president from 1905 until his retirement in 1919, Fishburn chaired the bank’s board of directors from 1920 until January 1926, when the National Exchange Bank merged with the First National Bank of Roanoke to create the First National Exchange Bank. Fishburn headed the First National Exchange Bank’s executive committee from 1926 to 1949, sat as vice president from 1926 to 1939, and chaired the board of directors from 1935 until his death. In 1903–1904 he served as a state vice president of the American Bankers Association and at least twice sat on the executive council of the Virginia Bankers Association.

In December 1909, along with several business associates, Fishburn cofounded and became vice president and treasurer of the Roanoke Times Company, Inc., which purchased and managed the Roanoke Times and the Evening News. In July 1918 he and other businessmen formed the Times-World Corporation, with Fishburn as president, and acquired the Roanoke Times and the Roanoke World News. He remained president of the corporation until 1923 when his son, Junius Parker Fishburn, assumed that office. The elder Fishburn subsequently served as the corporation’s vice president and sat on its board of directors. In 1931 the Times-World Corporation purchased radio station WDBJ, which later became Roanoke’s CBS television affiliate. In March 1954, after his son died unexpectedly, he became chairman of the board of the corporation.

In addition to his work in banking and publishing, Fishburn was an investor, officer, or director of at least thirty other corporations. From 1895 to 1935 he was an owner, director, and second vice president of the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company, and from 1900 to 1903 he owned the Roanoke Railway and Electric Company. In 1900 Fishburn served as president of the Roanoke Coal and Coke Company and from 1916 to 1939 as vice president of the Hazard Coal Company. Along with his brother-in-law, Edward Lee Stone, in 1891 Fishburn became a co-owner and vice president of the Stone Printing and Manufacturing Company. He and Stone helped organize the Young Men’s Investment Company in 1899 and established the Century Banking and Safe Deposit Company in 1900 and the Southwest Virginia Trust Company the following year. An avid business promoter, Fishburn was a charter member of the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce, and in 1905 he helped found the Century Club, an elite social and commercial booster-organization. The club’s members became the principal investors and directors of the Mill Mountain Incline Corporation, an endeavor they expected would make Roanoke’s Mill Mountain a tourist attraction.

Fishburn’s philanthropic interests were considerable. He served on the board of the Roanoke Public Library and during his life contributed more than 3,000 books to public and university libraries. In 1933 Fishburn gave to the state about 5,000 acres of land in Patrick County for construction of Fairy Stone State Park. Like his cousin, former Roanoke mayor Blair Joshua Fishburn who donated land for a city park, he provided gifts of land to the city of Roanoke during the 1930s and 1940s of more than a dozen city lots and 250 acres that were used for the creation of six public parks and a playground. About 1950 he donated 2,500 acres to Virginia Polytechnic Institute (later Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). At his death, Fishburn left to the city his forty-two-room Colonial Revival mansion, Mountain View. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the former home became a recreation center.

Over the course of his life, Fishburn donated about $1 million to Virginia colleges and universities. He served as a trustee of Hollins College (later University) and the Roanoke Academy of Music. Fishburn received honorary degrees from Roanoke College and Washington and Lee College (later University). Junius Blair Fishburn died on April 1^st, 1955, and is buried at Evergreen Burial Park.

Junius Blair Fishburn was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1990.

G. Frank Clement was born on August 22, 1907. He went from selling insurance for the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co. to become President of the Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. in Roanoke, Virginia. He retired from that position in 1972 and served as chairman of the company until 1978.

Mr. Clement served on a racially integrated cultural committee in the 1960s that led to the integration of many restaurants, theaters, and companies in Roanoke. He continued to work for equal access when he resigned his membership in the Shenandoah Club in 1983 to protest its exclusionary policies.

After retirement, he served on Roanoke City Council for the first six months of 1980 to fill an unexpired term of a member who had resigned. He was named the Roanoke Citizen of the Year in 1985 and was one of the first laureates inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame when it was established in 1990 by Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia.

Mr. Clement was responsible for the initial fundraising that started Center in the Square in downtown Roanoke and served on the board of directors of the facility. He was also involved in many other community organizations. In a Feb. 15, 2009, article in The Roanoke Times, Bill Hopkins, a charter member of Center in the Square’s board of directors, said Clement “was certainly one of Roanoke’s most outstanding benefactors in the last half of the 20th century.”

He died March 1, 2001, at age 93 and is buried in Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke.

G. Frank Clement was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1990.

R. H. Smith, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, served as N&W Railway Company’s President from 1946–1958. He was first employed on the N&W during the summer of 1910 on a surveying crew. After graduating from Princeton University in 1911, he returned to the railroad where he remained until his retirement.

For more information on R.H. Smith click here.

Robert “Race Horse” Smith was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1990.

George B. Cartledge, Sr., born in Georgia in 1910. Mr. Cartledge got his start in the furniture industry as a salesman in Atlanta in 1931. In 1937, he and two partners established Southeast Wholesale Furniture in Atlanta and expanded to Roanoke in 1945 with their acquisition of Grand Piano and Furniture Company. Throughout the growth of his company, Mr. Cartledge demanded perfect honesty and consideration for customers, offering a frosty Coke to everyone who walked in the store.

Grand began expanding outside of Roanoke in February 1951 when it opened a store in Radford, Virginia, followed later in the year with a store in Covington, Virginia. The fourth Grand store opened in Lynchburg, Virginia in September 1953. It was here that the tradition of serving Coke in the “little bottles” (holding 6.5 ounces) to customers was born as an opening day promotion. The swarm of people who gathered to visit the store was so great that the police were called in to provide control and the street was blocked off. By the end of the day, the Lynchburg store served 12,000 (some sources say 14,000) ice-cold Cokes. As Grand’s vice-president of advertising told Virginia Business in 1999, “Forty-six years ago it didn’t take much to move people’s meter.”

George Cartledge, Sr. was quick to recognize the potential of the soda giveaway, and soon free Cokes were being served at all the Grand stores on a daily basis. It became more than a gimmick, evolving into a key element of the chain’s success. Cartledge took it so seriously that he issued a memo that has become part of company lore on how to properly serve a bottle of Coke. He wrote in part: “Let me emphasize how important it is to give our Cokes with enthusiasm and a smile. … Salespeople and store managers too should watch the door and be ready with a Coke when the customers walk in.” It became a tradition with customers as well, as parents who cherished the memory of their first Coke at a Grand Piano store brought their own children to share the experience.

When Mr. Cartledge received the National Home Furnishings Association “1996 Retailer of the Year” award, which recognizes business leadership as well as industry and community service, it was stated, “His accomplishments as a businessman, father, citizen, industry and commerce leader serve as a role model and guide for all of us in the home furnishings industry.” He was the recipient of the Virginia Retailer of the Year and received honors from numerous civic organizations. He died in March of 1997 at the age of 87.

George B. Cartledge, Sr. was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 1991.