Sidney Randall Dickerson Smith, Jr. was born in New Orleans, LA on October 5, 1935, the oldest son of Beatrice Bundy Smith and Rev. Sidney Randall Dickerson Smith, Sr. He graduated from Dunbar High School in Washington, DC and received a BA degree from the University of Connecticut, and an MS and PhD from Howard University. Sidney completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Connecticut, and New York University Medical Center. Early in his career, he was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Morehouse College. Years later, he continued his passion for academia as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Biology at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

In 1969, Schering-Plough (acquired by Merck) hired Sidney to start an immunology research group. During his 35-year career at the Schering-Plough Research Institute, he developed drugs for allergies and inflammatory diseases. He retired from Schering-Plough in 2003 as a Research Fellow in Immunology. In 2003, Sidney entered Drew University Theological School and in May 2006, he received a Master of Divinity degree from Drew, magna cum laude at the age of seventy.

Sidney was a devoted member of Grace Congregational Church of Harlem where he served as Chairperson of the Deacon Board and Co-Chair of the Stewardship Committee. In October 2005, he was licensed by the Metropolitan Association of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ to practice ministry at Grace Congregational Church of Harlem. In December 2007, Sidney was ordained into the ministry at Grace. Thereafter, he served as a spiritual leader at Grace and served as an interim pastor of the First Congregational Church, Rockaway Beach, NY.

He was active with the Bergen County Howard Alumni Association, served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Urban League of Bergen County, NJ, Inc., was a member of and leader within the Martin Luther King Senior Center, and served on the Board of the Girl Scouts Council of Bergen County (New Jersey), and on the Board of Trustees of The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ. He reviewed grant applications for the National Institutes of Health and held membership in several professional societies including the American Association of Immunologists. He is a member of Omega Phi Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Sidney is predeceased by his mother and father; his wife of 64 years, Katherine Elizabeth Kerr Smith; his brother, George Bundy Smith, Sr.; and his brother-in-law, Willard Kerr. He is survived by his sister, Inez Smith Reid and his adopted brother, James Roy Smith; daughters, Lisa Smith (Maurice), Michelle Jefferies (Bradley) and Sharon Goodwyn (Bernard); son, Sidney R. Smith, III (Lynn); grandsons, Matthew (Brittany), Samuel, Quentin (Vanessa), and Sidney R. Smith, IV; granddaughters, Courtney, Sarah, Ashlynn and Michela; sisters-in-law, Alene Smith, Thelma Delaney, Nadine Carter, and Shirley Harris (James); a nephew, George Bundy Smith, Jr.; a niece, Beth Beatrice Smith; a great-niece, Alyssa Smith and a great-nephew, George Bundy Smith, III; and many other relatives and friends.

.