It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Garth Smith on March 19, 2021. Garth was born on February 7, 1940 in St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and was raised in Armstrong, BC in the Okanagan Valley. As a teenager he rose to the rank of Sergeant in Army Cadets and was the President of Teen Town for all British Columbia. In 1958, the day after he graduated from high school, he began working at the Bank of Commerce as a teller. It was at a bank Christmas Party in 1963 that he met the love of his life, Janet Clark. She had on a beautiful red dress and he drove a brand-new blue MG midget—they made a handsome couple and were married in 1965, in Port Rowan on a very windy day. In 1967, they moved to Toronto where Garth became the Senior Vice-President of the Mortgage Division at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. In the early 1970’s they built a house near Campbellville where their son Cameron was born in 1974. Garth and Janet lived in Milton from 1979 to 1996 and then moved to the Villages of Long Point in Port Rowan in 1997, Garth’s project there was to create a pond and waterfall that reminded him of his BC roots. Garth retired following 34 years at the Bank and then spent many happy (and warm) winters in Florida where he served as Treasurer of the men’s golf league for Fairway Village in Largo. Garth was a very good golfer and twice went to watch the Master’s in Augusta, Georgia. He was an avid reader of fiction, non-fiction and newspapers—reading both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail almost daily. Garth and Janet had season tickets for the Toronto Argonauts from 1967 to 1977 and for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977 to 1997. He loved following his favourite sports teams and even travelled to Kansas City in 1992 to witness the Blue Jays win the World Series. Garth and Janet enjoyed travel and went on more than 25 cruises as well as traveling in Europe and canoeing the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City. He loved long car trips and spent many summers driving out to British Columbia. They moved to Brantford in 2009 where Garth was very involved in his grandson’s lives; encouraging them in activities such as golfing, baseball and music lessons. They spent many happy summers at a cottage on Long Point. Garth is predeceased by his beloved son Cameron Peter Smith and his parents Peter Cyril Hardy Smith and Winnifred Mary (Cook) Smith. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Janet Smith, his brother David in Victoria, BC, sister Teresa Manduca and brother-in-law Nick in Kelowna, brothers and sisters-in-law Paul and Marlene Smith in Port Rowan, and Louis Pauly and Caryl Clark in Toronto, as well as numerous nieces and nephews who loved him very much. His daughter-in-law Corina Smith and Scott as well as his two adored grandsons, Blayne and Owen, will forever miss their ‘Pops’. Garth received excellent care at the Westmount Kidney Clinic and Victoria Hospital in London. Donations in his memory would be gratefully received by the Canadian Kidney Foundation or the Sydenham-Heritage United Church in Brantford. Arrangements entrusted to Toll Funeral Home, 55 Charing Cross Street, Brantford. www.tollfh.ca
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Friday March 19th 2021
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de John Garth Smith Friday March 19th 2021..
Décès pour la Ville:Brantford, Province: Ontario