Dr. Gary Ray Smiley

Dr. Gary Ray Smiley, 88, of Spartanburg, SC, died Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Born September 13, 1936, he was the son of the late Harry and Rose Hecklin Smiley.

Gary was a 1954 graduate of Spartanburg High School, 1958 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and 1961 graduate of the UNC School of Dentistry where he earned the honorary designation of OKU. Gary served as a Captain in the US Air Force in Homestead, FL, from 1961-63, during which time the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. He returned to UNC where he earned a Master’s degree in Orthodontics in 1965. Dr. Smiley then joined the UNC School of Dentistry Orthodontic faculty and later served as the acting Associate Dean of Research at UNC until 1975. During his 10 years at the School of Dentistry, Dr. Smiley authored more than a dozen articles in scientific journals on normal and abnormal formation and development of the palate. His research is included in dental and medical textbooks. He also presented his research and clinical treatment of cleft palate/craniofacial patients at numerous national and international conferences. Dr. Smiley left academics and returned home to establish his private practice in orthodontics in Spartanburg in 1975, retiring in 2005. He was a Board member of Temple B’nai Israel. He was also a member of the Spartanburg County Dental Society, South Carolina Dental Association, American Dental Association, the South Carolina Association of Orthodontists as well as the Southern Association of Orthodontists. He was secretary of the American Cleft Palate/Craniofacial Association. Additionally, he was a member of the Spartanburg Cleft Palate/Craniofacial Team, and more recently, a volunteer with Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Sandra “Sandy” Margolis Smiley; children, Dr. Steven J. Smiley (Shannon) of Spartanburg, SC, Karen Pinosky (Dr. Mark) of Mt. Pleasant, SC, and Suzanne Silverman (Dr. Marshall) of Charlotte, NC; grandchildren, Caroline Smiley Ginburg (Daniel), Dr. David Smiley, Rebekah Smiley, Allison Pinosky Gaines PhD (David), Dr. Seth Pinosky (Karen), Greyson Silverman, Bailey Silverman, and Scott Silverman; great-grandchildren, Aubrey and Rickie Ginburg. He was predeceased by a sister, Shirley Smiley Margolis of Glen Rock, NJ.

Graveside services will be held at 4 pm, Thursday, August 21, 2025, in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, 1300 Fernwood-Glendale Rd., Spartanburg, SC, 29307, conducted by Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Temple B’nai Israel, 146 Heywood Avenue, Spartanburg, SC 29302; Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg, PO Box 1411, Spartanburg, SC 29304 or Mobile Meals, PO Box 461, Spartanburg, SC 29304.

Floyd’s Greenlawn Chapel