Yorkregion.com - Whitchurch-Stouffville - Walter Smith,1921-2008
Walter Smith,1921-2008
Whitchurch-Stouffville
May 22, 2008 12:31 AM
Hundreds pay tribute to town’s first full-time chief
By: Jim Thomas
He was Stouffville’s first full-time fire chief.
But for Walter Smith, the position was merely an extension of the 20 years he had already served as a fire department volunteer.
He was and always would be “one of the boys”.
That’s how Walter Joseph Smith was remembered by hundreds attending the receiving Monday evening at the O’Neill Funeral Home and the funeral at Christ Anglican Church Tuesday.
Mr. Smith died at his Stouffville home Friday. He was 86.
Mayor Wayne Emmerson paid tribute to Mr. Smith at Tuesday’s town council meeting, noting the hundreds who attended the funeral.
Born and educated here, Mr. Smith served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1946. When the Second World War ended, he became the town’s first electric welder, setting up shop south of Main Street near the CIBC.
The same year, he joined Branch 459 of the Royal Canadian Legion and assisted with the construction of the Ninth Line Legion hall. His membership there spanned 62 years.
In 1948, Walter married Aurelia Jennings, a partnership of 60 years.
For a period of 17 years, he held the position of treasurer with the Stouffville Figure Skating Club. Through this association, he was able to watch daughters Janice (Percy), Stouffville and Jo-Ellen (Carrington), Burlington, excel beyond his highest dreams.
He was equally proud of their four grandchildren, Owen and Leah Percy and Meghan and Kendra Carrington, spending countless hours with them at the family cottage on Hawk Lake, Haliburton.
Other interests included baseball, softball, lawn bowling, gardening, traveling, music and poetry.
But first and foremost, he was a firefighter, a camaraderie that gained him a host of friends.
Fire personnel from Markham and Stouffville attended the funeral conducted by Rev. Canon Robert Shields assisted by Rev. Jason Prisley.
Six former brigade volunteers served as pallbearers: Tom Brillinger, Marvin Betz, Bob MacAloney, Don Doner, Charles Jackson and Ken Wagg.
A Legion tribute preceded the public service.
The sanctuary was filled to overflowing.
Four grandchildren delivered eulogies.
“None of us, and I suspect few of you, will ever be able to smell fresh raisin bread; hear the pick of a banjo string or the wail of a fire siren; play a game of cribbage or breathe the sweet air of a greenhouse full of red geraniums, without feeling Walt Smith there with you,” grandson Owen Percy said.
“And this is as much as anyone can ask, for, to live in the hearts of others is never to die at all.”
Interment was made at Stouffville cemetery.