Tazewell ‘Taz’ Smith Friends and family are mourning the loss of Tazewell “Taz” Smith, who passed away peacefully at his home in Orient, N.Y., after a brief illness on April 14, 2021. He was 73. Tazewell was born in Flushing, Queens, to Tazewell Wellington Smith and Margaret Emmott Smith on May 17, 1947. Shortly after graduating from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y., he married Kathleen Egan, in 1969. The couple set up house in Flushing before moving to Glen Head, Long Island, to raise their three sons. A textbook example of rising up through the ranks, Taz began his career in the management trainee program of Manufacturers Hanover Trust and stayed with the bank through its various mergers. He retired from JP Morgan Chase in 2006 as senior vice president and division executive. No stranger to multitasking, Taz spent the first seven years of his career serving his country on weekends as a member of the United States Air Force National Guard. He would later be nominated by his employer to attend the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.