Southern Charm fans have always enjoyed keeping up to date with Whitney Sudler Smith and are curious to know more about his late father, Lon Hayes Smith, who he spoke of in a recent episode. Over the years, fans have seen him interact with his mother, Patricia Altschul, and often questioned who his father was. The only child has enjoyed being a guest on Southern Charm, but fans now want to know more about his life.
Even though Whitney is no longer a featured cast member on the show, he is still an intricate part as he is the creator of Southern Charm. Whitney is also the executive producer, so he always has some type of involvement in the show. While Whitney has decided to take a back seat, his mother, Patricia, has become the matriarch of Charleston as she often can be found offering advice to the young ladies and gentlemen. While fans know a lot about Whitney’s mother, not much has been public about his father, Lon.
Of course, Lon was a southern gentleman as fans heard the mother and son duo discussing his legacy while Whitney drove his mother around town in a recent Southern Charm season 8 episode. After 14 years of marriage, the couple decided to end their union but made the divorce as civilized as possible. Lon died on August 22, 2021, at the age of 84. He lived out his last days as a resident of Easton, Maryland, via his obituary on fhnfuneralhome.com. During his lifetime, Whitney’s father studied for his MBA at The American University and retired in 2004 as Senior Vice President at Morgan Stanley.
Sadly, Whitney, who has quite the dating history, spoke about how hard it has been to lose his father, explaining he has had a rough year. In Patricia’s book, The Art of Southern Charm via Heavy, the socialite opened up about her first husband, noting he was “good looking.” Fans learned she met Lon through a family friend while studying at George Washington University. According to Patricia, the couple married in 1965 and moved to Virginia. Shortly after, in 1968, they had Whitney.
Whitney is doing his best to keep his spirits up. Southern Charm viewers could tell he misses his father and enjoyed talking about him to the cameras. Whitney, whose father was one of Patricia’s three husbands, rarely shared any photos of his father, as Lon liked to live a very private life. Even though Whitney is still grieving, viewers loved hearing him reminisce about his father.
Southern Charm airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo.
Sources: fhnfuneralhome.com, Heavy
