Kirby Smart's father, Sonny Smart, passes away at the age of 76

WUGA | By Jeff Dantre

Published January 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM EST

The Bulldog nation is mourning the death of Sonny Smart, Kirby Smart’s father.

The elder smart died Saturday after suffering complications from surgery to repair a broken hip suffered from a fall on New Year’s Eve in New Orleans. He had been visiting the city for the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl game against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.

The 76-year-old was a constant presence at Georgia football games alongside his wife, Sharon. They have two other children: Karl and Kendall.

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Jeff Dantre

Jeff has delivered morning news at WUGA Radio for more than a decade. He was among a team at CNN that won a George Foster Peabody Award in 1991 for an educational product based on the fall of the Soviet Union. He also won an Edward R. Murrow Award from Radio Television Digital News Association in 2007 for producing a series for WSB Radio on financial scams. Jeff is a graduate of the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University (MBA) and holds a BS in Business Administration from Campbell University, both in North Carolina.

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