Kelly Bennett Smith, a 26-year-old Baylor graduate and the son of well-known Erlanger Dr. Bill Moore Smith, drowned last Friday on the Oregon coast when he was struck by a rogue wave and swept out to sea.
Smith, who graduated from Baylor in 2008 according to an obituary provided by his family, was a co-founder of DT Productions, a video production company based in Athens, Ga. He was in Oregon working on a company project when he visited the coast Friday morning near the Rocky Creek Scenic View Point, south of Depoe Bay, according to the Oregon State Police.
Kelly Bennett SmithSmith was visiting the coast for the first time with five other friends after finishing up a job in Corvallis before flying back home, the police department said.
"He and another friend climbed out on the rocks beyond the viewpoint to get as close to the water to take some photos, when a rogue wave approached and struck them from behind," police said in a statement.
Smith was pulled by the current out into the rough seas, where he apparently drowned. A search by the Coast Guard to locate his body is ongoing.
According to the statement, rogue waves of the type that struck Smith are called "sneaker waves" "because they appear without warning, often surging high up on the beach with deadly force, and are impossible to predict. Sneaker waves also carry a large amount of sand that can saturate your clothes, weighing you down and making escape difficult if not impossible."
Smith is the son of Dr. Smith and Crissie Smith of Lookout Mountain. His father is the team doctor to several University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sports teams, in addition to being a medical consultant for the Chattanooga Lookouts and a former physician for the U.S. Olympic team.
At Baylor, Kelly Smith co-captained the state championship soccer team. He attended the College of Charleston, where he played soccer, for one year before transferring to the University of Georgia. He was an avid fly fisherman, according to his family, and spent several summers as a professional guide on Western rivers.
Smith was a long-standing member of Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church.
Besides his parents, he is survived by four brothers, Kyle, Kurt, Kip and Karter, and a sister, Kadie Ann.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. today at the Long Branch Residential Preserve in Walker County, Ga.
Contact staff report Steve Johnson at sjohnson@times freepress.com, 423-757-6673, on Twitter @stevejohnsonTFP and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/noogahealth.