A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m., in the Chapel at Cedar Crest, 1 Cedar Crest Drive, Pompton Plains.

Mr. Smith was born in Quincy, Mass., and attended Bentley College, previously Bentley School of Accounting and Finance. The Smiths lived in Glen Ridge for nearly 30 years before moving to Montclair. He lived at Cedar Crest in Pompton Plains for the past four years. He managed accounting functions for the U.S. Army Signal Corps while serving during World War II.

Mr. Smith was retired from the American Express Co., where he had served as a director of American Express Corp. and vice president and assistant comptroller of the parent company, American Express. He is credited with designing the back-office systems that created the American Express credit card in the 1950s. Prior to his work at American Express, he was a certified public accountant at Haskins & Sells, one of the major CPA firms.

He served for decades as treasurer of Christ Episcopal Church, Bloomfield-Glen Ridge and the Glen Ridge chapter of the American Red Cross. He lived in the Rockcliff Apartments in Montclair, where he was acclaimed for managing capital funds to minimize resident outlays for various projects. His work with the church began in the early 1950s, when he was the Sunday School superintendent and a member of the Vestry. He was a member of the Dunworkin Club and previously the local Kiwanis Club.

Mr. Smith was predeceased in 2001 by his wife, Helen (Duckworth) Smith. He is survived by his children, Kathleen Breiten, James, and Kenneth; a sister, Dorothy Stevenson; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the St. Bartholomew’s Church with memo, Community Ministry to Feed the Homeless, at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 109 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022, or to the Cedar Crest Benevolent Care Fund, In Memory of James A. Smith, 4 Cedar Crest Drive, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444.