Robert C. Smith, 85, chairman of pie firm

Robert C. Smith, 85, of Lower Pottsgrove Township, former chairman and chief executive officer of Mrs. Smith's Pies, died of lung cancer Wednesday, Nov. 3, at home.

Mr. Smith ran the company's pretzel division until it was sold. He became vice president and assistant general manager of Mrs. Smith's Pies in 1963 and was named president in 1972.

The company had its origins in the 1920s, when Mr. Smith's grandmother, Amanda Smith, a widow with nine children, began baking pies to support her family. Mr. Smith's father, Robert P., sold his mother's pies door to door in Pottstown, then sold them at a lunch counter at the local YMCA, added a mobile route, and eventually opened a small store.

In 1952, five years after Amanda Smith died, the firm began producing frozen pies.

In a 1974 Inquirer profile, Mr. Smith said he anticipated further growth for Mrs. Smith's Pies, which was then distributing 45 varieties of pies all over the country. "We don't think we've scratched the surface. There are a hell of a lot more pie eaters out there," he said.

According to The Inquirer, Mr. Smith retained "the entrepreneurial flair that motivated his father."

Though he displayed "ebullient confidence," The Inquirer reported, Mr. Smith admitted that his firm had faced trying times, including extensive damage from flooding during Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and sharp rises in the costs of shortening, eggs, flour, and gasoline.

In 1976, Mrs. Smith's Pies was sold to Kellogg Co. for $56 million.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Mr. Smith was president of Delafoil, a manufacturer of magnetic shields used for televisions. He was founder and president of RC Smith Industries, a family holding company.

Mr. Smith served on the board of the Pottstown YMCA for many years and had been active with the Elks in Pottstown in his younger years.

An avid golfer, he was a lifelong member of the Brookside Country Club in Pottstown and enjoyed spending winters in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his family.

Mr. Smith graduated from Pottstown High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania Military College, now Widener University.

During World War II, he served in France and Germany as a master sergeant in the Army.

He is survived by a son, Robert S.; a daughter, Stephanie Mitchell; a sister; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. His wife of 54 years, Laura Matthews Smith, preceded him in death.

Services are private.

Memorial donations may be made to the Pottstown YMCA, 724 N. Adams St., Pottstown, Pa. 19464, or to First United Methodist Church, 414 E. High St., Pottstown, Pa. 19464.