lived in Indian Creek Island and was father to two sons, John (born 1941) and Bruce Smathers (born 1943) (Florida State Senate 1973-75 and Secretary of State 1975–78) from his marriage to Rosemary Townley. In 1988, Smathers donated property appraised at $2 million to renovate the University of Florida's original library building, now Smathers Library. He also made a testamentary gift, valued at the time at $20 million, to the University of Florida and the university honored him by naming the George A. Smathers Libraries. He also donated property valued at $10 million to the University of Miami. Smathers often attended "Church by the Sea", the United Church of Christ in Bal Harbour, Florida. His funeral was held here after his death at age 93. Smathers's remains are interred at Arlington National Cemetery. Relationships In addition to his relationships with Kennedy and Johnson, Smathers was also close to Richard Nixon, who was also elected to the House in 1946. Smathers introduced Nixon to "Bebe" Rebozo, who became Nixon's close friend and longtime companion. Smathers sold Nixon his Key Biscayne home which became famous as Nixon's "Florida White House". Smathers was a childhood friend of Phil Graham, a fellow Floridian and half-brother to Bob Graham, Florida Governor (1979 – 1987) and United States Senator (1987 – 2005). Phil Graham would later become the publisher of The Washington Post. Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator from Florida from 2001 to 2019, was a summer intern in Smathers's office in 1961–1962 and remained close to the Smathers family throughout his career. In popular culture Smathers Beach, a popular Key West destination, is named after the senator. The handsome politician was known as "Gorgeous George" (after the famous professional wrestler who appeared under that moniker) by his detractors. Part of American political lore is the Smathers "redneck speech", which Smathers reportedly delivered to a poorly educated audience. The comments were recorded in a small magazine, picked up in Time and elsewhere, and etched into the public's memories. Time, during the campaign, reported a "yarn" that Smathers had said: "Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, he has a brother who is a known homo sapiens, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it