Valerian Butler Smith, known fondly by family and friends as "Peppah," departed this life on Friday, January 27, 2023, at University Medical Center New Orleans, in New Orleans, Louisiana after a brief respiratory illness, ending a valiant seven year journey through the debilitating effects of an aortic rupture and subsequent anoxic brain injury in 2015. Through it all, his was an extraordinary life.
As one of Mr. Butler Smith's former business partners recently said, "To talk about Peppah as an investment banker would do him such a disservice. It was business that brought us together, but we did so much more than that because he knew so much and taught me so much. The breadth and depth of his knowledge and interests were truly other-worldly." His life can justifiably be characterized as extraordinary because of the passion with which he pursued it and shared it.
He had the rare ability to pursue interests until they were passions until his knowledge became encyclopedic and execution prodigious. While an internationally focused investment banker, playing the cello, riding horses, gardening, cooking, drawing, dancing, historic preservation, history, decorative and fine arts were passions for which he acquired great knowledge and ability.
Mr. Butler Smith was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 21, 1959 to V. Jean Butler and the late Dr. Valerian E. Smith. He was educated in Baton Rouge through elementary school. Recognized as a prodigious cellist, performing the Saint-Seans concerto accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra at twelve years old, he was encouraged to attend North Carolina School of the Arts. After several years there and studying summers in Sienna, Italy with Janos Starker, after being hand selected by the famous cellist, he decided that finance would be his career and music his constant companion.
He returned to Baton Rouge, transferring to Catholic High School, where he excelled academically and in Dramatic Arts, while resuming cello instruction with Thaddeus Brys. Upon his graduation in 1977, he chose Princeton University (Class of 1982) for undergraduate study and majored in International Economics. At Princeton, Mr. Butler Smith was a member of Ivy Club, First Chair of the Princeton Orchestra and Captain of the Equestrian Team.
Upon graduation, he began his career in finance in New Orleans, Louisiana, first at Howard Weil Labouisse Freidrichs and later as co-founding partner of Washington, Hackett, Smith & Company, the "ground-breaking first minority-owned pension consulting firm in the United States." He relocated to New York as Vice President of First Capital Advisors, later founding investment banking, private investment management firm Ashland Capital Holdings. After many years, he transferred the company's base of operations to Louisiana after returning to Baton Rouge. A "cradle Episcopalian" he was devoted to his faith and Anglicanism throughout his life, serving as the warden of the vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church in New York City and finding great joy in his membership at St. James Episcopal Church upon his return to Baton Rouge.
Mr. Butler Smith was preceded in death by his father, Dr. Valerian E. Smith; his maternal grandparents, Dr. Leo S. Butler and Estelle Devall Butler; his paternal grandparents, Dr. Dennis E. Smith and Willia Hundley Smith; aunt, Elayne Butler Bryant: and a first cousin, William Carlton Washington II. He is survived by his devoted mother, V. Jean Butler, sisters Lynn Whitfield of Atlanta, Ga., Kimberleigh Butler-Smith Taylor, Shawne Langston Emery (Bishop Calvin Emery), all of Baton Rouge; three nieces, a nephew and many extended, bereaved relatives.
interment at Roselawn Memorial Park.
As one of Mr. Butler Smith's former business partners recently said, "To talk about Peppah as an investment banker would do him such a disservice. It was business that brought us together, but we did so much more than that because he knew so much and taught me so much. The breadth and depth of his knowledge and interests were truly other-worldly." His life can justifiably be characterized as extraordinary because of the passion with which he pursued it and shared it.
He had the rare ability to pursue interests until they were passions until his knowledge became encyclopedic and execution prodigious. While an internationally focused investment banker, playing the cello, riding horses, gardening, cooking, drawing, dancing, historic preservation, history, decorative and fine arts were passions for which he acquired great knowledge and ability.
Mr. Butler Smith was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 21, 1959 to V. Jean Butler and the late Dr. Valerian E. Smith. He was educated in Baton Rouge through elementary school. Recognized as a prodigious cellist, performing the Saint-Seans concerto accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra at twelve years old, he was encouraged to attend North Carolina School of the Arts. After several years there and studying summers in Sienna, Italy with Janos Starker, after being hand selected by the famous cellist, he decided that finance would be his career and music his constant companion.
He returned to Baton Rouge, transferring to Catholic High School, where he excelled academically and in Dramatic Arts, while resuming cello instruction with Thaddeus Brys. Upon his graduation in 1977, he chose Princeton University (Class of 1982) for undergraduate study and majored in International Economics. At Princeton, Mr. Butler Smith was a member of Ivy Club, First Chair of the Princeton Orchestra and Captain of the Equestrian Team.
Upon graduation, he began his career in finance in New Orleans, Louisiana, first at Howard Weil Labouisse Freidrichs and later as co-founding partner of Washington, Hackett, Smith & Company, the "ground-breaking first minority-owned pension consulting firm in the United States." He relocated to New York as Vice President of First Capital Advisors, later founding investment banking, private investment management firm Ashland Capital Holdings. After many years, he transferred the company's base of operations to Louisiana after returning to Baton Rouge. A "cradle Episcopalian" he was devoted to his faith and Anglicanism throughout his life, serving as the warden of the vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church in New York City and finding great joy in his membership at St. James Episcopal Church upon his return to Baton Rouge.
Mr. Butler Smith was preceded in death by his father, Dr. Valerian E. Smith; his maternal grandparents, Dr. Leo S. Butler and Estelle Devall Butler; his paternal grandparents, Dr. Dennis E. Smith and Willia Hundley Smith; aunt, Elayne Butler Bryant: and a first cousin, William Carlton Washington II. He is survived by his devoted mother, V. Jean Butler, sisters Lynn Whitfield of Atlanta, Ga., Kimberleigh Butler-Smith Taylor, Shawne Langston Emery (Bishop Calvin Emery), all of Baton Rouge; three nieces, a nephew and many extended, bereaved relatives.
interment at Roselawn Memorial Park.
Valerian Butler Smith, known fondly by family and friends as "Peppah," departed this life on Friday, January 27, 2023, at University Medical Center New Orleans, in New Orleans, Louisiana after a brief respiratory illness, ending a valiant seven year journey through the debilitating effects of an aortic rupture and subsequent anoxic brain injury in 2015. Through it all, his was an extraordinary life.
As one of Mr. Butler Smith's former business partners recently said, "To talk about Peppah as an investment banker would do him such a disservice. It was business that brought us together, but we did so much more than that because he knew so much and taught me so much. The breadth and depth of his knowledge and interests were truly other-worldly." His life can justifiably be characterized as extraordinary because of the passion with which he pursued it and shared it.
He had the rare ability to pursue interests until they were passions until his knowledge became encyclopedic and execution prodigious. While an internationally focused investment banker, playing the cello, riding horses, gardening, cooking, drawing, dancing, historic preservation, history, decorative and fine arts were passions for which he acquired great knowledge and ability.
Mr. Butler Smith was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 21, 1959 to V. Jean Butler and the late Dr. Valerian E. Smith. He was educated in Baton Rouge through elementary school. Recognized as a prodigious cellist, performing the Saint-Seans concerto accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra at twelve years old, he was encouraged to attend North Carolina School of the Arts. After several years there and studying summers in Sienna, Italy with Janos Starker, after being hand selected by the famous cellist, he decided that finance would be his career and music his constant companion.
He returned to Baton Rouge, transferring to Catholic High School, where he excelled academically and in Dramatic Arts, while resuming cello instruction with Thaddeus Brys. Upon his graduation in 1977, he chose Princeton University (Class of 1982) for undergraduate study and majored in International Economics. At Princeton, Mr. Butler Smith was a member of Ivy Club, First Chair of the Princeton Orchestra and Captain of the Equestrian Team.
Upon graduation, he began his career in finance in New Orleans, Louisiana, first at Howard Weil Labouisse Freidrichs and later as co-founding partner of Washington, Hackett, Smith & Company, the "ground-breaking first minority-owned pension consulting firm in the United States." He relocated to New York as Vice President of First Capital Advisors, later founding investment banking, private investment management firm Ashland Capital Holdings. After many years, he transferred the company's base of operations to Louisiana after returning to Baton Rouge. A "cradle Episcopalian" he was devoted to his faith and Anglicanism throughout his life, serving as the warden of the vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church in New York City and finding great joy in his membership at St. James Episcopal Church upon his return to Baton Rouge.
Mr. Butler Smith was preceded in death by his father, Dr. Valerian E. Smith; his maternal grandparents, Dr. Leo S. Butler and Estelle Devall Butler; his paternal grandparents, Dr. Dennis E. Smith and Willia Hundley Smith; aunt, Elayne Butler Bryant: and a first cousin, William Carlton Washington II. He is survived by his devoted mother, V. Jean Butler, sisters Lynn Whitfield of Atlanta, Ga., Kimberleigh Butler-Smith Taylor, Shawne Langston Emery (Bishop Calvin Emery), all of Baton Rouge; three nieces, a nephew and many extended, bereaved relatives.
interment at Roselawn Memorial Park.
As one of Mr. Butler Smith's former business partners recently said, "To talk about Peppah as an investment banker would do him such a disservice. It was business that brought us together, but we did so much more than that because he knew so much and taught me so much. The breadth and depth of his knowledge and interests were truly other-worldly." His life can justifiably be characterized as extraordinary because of the passion with which he pursued it and shared it.
He had the rare ability to pursue interests until they were passions until his knowledge became encyclopedic and execution prodigious. While an internationally focused investment banker, playing the cello, riding horses, gardening, cooking, drawing, dancing, historic preservation, history, decorative and fine arts were passions for which he acquired great knowledge and ability.
Mr. Butler Smith was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on May 21, 1959 to V. Jean Butler and the late Dr. Valerian E. Smith. He was educated in Baton Rouge through elementary school. Recognized as a prodigious cellist, performing the Saint-Seans concerto accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra at twelve years old, he was encouraged to attend North Carolina School of the Arts. After several years there and studying summers in Sienna, Italy with Janos Starker, after being hand selected by the famous cellist, he decided that finance would be his career and music his constant companion.
He returned to Baton Rouge, transferring to Catholic High School, where he excelled academically and in Dramatic Arts, while resuming cello instruction with Thaddeus Brys. Upon his graduation in 1977, he chose Princeton University (Class of 1982) for undergraduate study and majored in International Economics. At Princeton, Mr. Butler Smith was a member of Ivy Club, First Chair of the Princeton Orchestra and Captain of the Equestrian Team.
Upon graduation, he began his career in finance in New Orleans, Louisiana, first at Howard Weil Labouisse Freidrichs and later as co-founding partner of Washington, Hackett, Smith & Company, the "ground-breaking first minority-owned pension consulting firm in the United States." He relocated to New York as Vice President of First Capital Advisors, later founding investment banking, private investment management firm Ashland Capital Holdings. After many years, he transferred the company's base of operations to Louisiana after returning to Baton Rouge. A "cradle Episcopalian" he was devoted to his faith and Anglicanism throughout his life, serving as the warden of the vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church in New York City and finding great joy in his membership at St. James Episcopal Church upon his return to Baton Rouge.
Mr. Butler Smith was preceded in death by his father, Dr. Valerian E. Smith; his maternal grandparents, Dr. Leo S. Butler and Estelle Devall Butler; his paternal grandparents, Dr. Dennis E. Smith and Willia Hundley Smith; aunt, Elayne Butler Bryant: and a first cousin, William Carlton Washington II. He is survived by his devoted mother, V. Jean Butler, sisters Lynn Whitfield of Atlanta, Ga., Kimberleigh Butler-Smith Taylor, Shawne Langston Emery (Bishop Calvin Emery), all of Baton Rouge; three nieces, a nephew and many extended, bereaved relatives.
interment at Roselawn Memorial Park.
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