Jefferson Verne Smith, the “old tare salesman from Greer” who helped seal the BMW deal, fought tirelessly for the poor and aged and believed in the good that government could do for his small, poor state, is gone.

The former state senator, whose 2001 party switch to the GOP gave Republicans control of the state Senate for the first time since Reconstruction, died Sunday at 81.

State political leaders said his personal and political influence will ripple through generations to come in South Carolina institutions, jobs and social services.

Friends and political leaders said BMW Manufacturing and its supplier companies, which today employ 50,000 people, might not have come to South Carolina without Smith’s personal intervention with local landowners.

“A Verne Smith comes along once in a thousand years. He did so much for the people in this area, and there’s going to be a vacuum here without him,” said state Sen. Lewis Vaughn, who was elected to succeed Smith in the November election.

Smith’s son, Jeff, said his father died Sunday morning after a long illness that prevented his bone marrow from fighting infections. The condition, diagnosed after gall bladder surgery more than a year ago, kept Smith out of the state Senate for all of this year’s session.

“He was ready to go,” Jeff Smith said. “He had decided long ago he didn’t want to go back to the hospital.”

Some of Smith’s proudest feats were his personal and legislative support for the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, his unyielding support for Greenville Technical College, and his presiding over the multimillion-dollar renovation of the State House.

“He was a tireless advocate for the Governor’s School for the Arts. He would routinely browbeat me and others in the governor’s office about that,” said Robert McAlister, chief of staff for the late Gov. Carroll Campbell.

Smith’s country charm belied a wily political instinct that put him on the winning side of many power struggles in the tradition-bound state Senate.

“The thing I will remember most about Verne Smith was his sense of humor. He would cloak himself in that good ol’ boy persona and say, ‘I’m just an old tare salesman from Greer,’” McAlister said.

His Presbyterian faith was well-known to his friends and colleagues. So long as he was able, he never missed the Thursday morning prayer group at the State House, which he organized, McAlister said. Smith was as generous with his money as he was zealous in his political support for the people and institutions of his state.

He and his wife, Jean, gave of their personal wealth to the Governor’s School, where a building bears his name. They also contributed financially to many other causes, including the Greer Public Library and First Presbyterian Church of Greer. Their charitable foundation gave many scholarships to Upstate youths to attend colleges across the state.

Institutions recognized his personal generosity and political support with many honors, including the J. Verne Smith Recreational Park on Lake Robinson, the J. Verne Smith Library/Technical Resources Center, Greenville Technical College, and J. Verne Smith Gallery in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in Columbia.

“We could not have gotten BMW without Verne Smith,” said McAlister, who was Campbell’s chief of staff during negotiations with the German automaker. “BMW only wanted that one location.”

“The problem was that there were landowners whose families had lived on those farms for generations. Verne went to every one of those families, sat down with them and used that gentile Southern charm to get them to sell their land. If he couldn’t close the deal himself, he’d call Gov. Campbell and put him on the phone,” McAlister said.

Before resigning, Smith had risen to No. 2 in Senate seniority behind state Sen. John Drummond, D-Ninety-Six. He was known as an advocate for the frail, elderly and children and worked to expand the state’s Medicaid programs to help them.

“He had a tremendous impact on the Medicaid system in this state,” Senate Democratic Leader John Land said.

The past few years, Smith pushed plans to increase what had become the nation’s lowest cigarette tax to help Medicaid and health care programs.

The 3-for-1 federal match for state Medicaid spending made that an easy decision, Smith said at a 2002 State House rally.

“When you can get three Yankee dollars for every dollar South Carolina puts in, it don’t take a computer to figure that out,” Smith said.

In July, Smith resigned the seat he had held since 1973. “I thought it was my duty to resign so somebody could get out and get around” to represent the district, Smith said at the time.

Smith has a unique spot in S.C. politics.

After the 2000 elections, the Senate was evenly split with 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. Smith, with the urging of President Bush, bolted from the Democratic Party and gave Republicans control of the Senate and the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. Republicans had controlled the House since 1994.

“That was a tough decision,” Jeff Smith said. But the senator thought he could best serve his constituents by switching parties and keeping a Senate committee chairmanship, he said.

“You always wanted him on your side,” Senate Republican Leader Harvey Peeler said. “It was hard to get something over on Verne.”

Former House Speaker David Wilkins said his old Greenville legislative delegation member “really tried to help the Upstate.” Wilkins, now U.S. ambassador to Canada, said Greer and Greenville “were great beneficiaries of his hard work in demanding the Upstate get its fair share.”

“I don’t think he saw people as Democrats or Republicans,” Wilkins said.

Gov. Mark Sanford said Sunday that the Smith family would be in his thoughts and prayers in the weeks ahead. “There are few people in public life who will ever compile Senator Smith’s long record of service,” Sanford said through a spokesman.

Smith’s wife of 59 years, Jean, died 29 days ago after a stroke, Jeff Smith said.

“He loved the Senate, but he loved Mrs. Smith above everything else,” Peeler said. “The old flat tire fixer from Greer is in heaven with his wife. He always called her ‘Momma.’ She was the only one who could handle him.”

They are survived by their son and a daughter, Carole Olmert. Jeff Smith said funeral arrangements were being made Sunday afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed.