Other Events and Attributes:

• photo*: Archie Smith from Gerry Smith sent to FBennett
• photo*: Mr & Mrs. Archie Emerson Smith from Gerry Smith to F Bennett

Notes:

My old dad started life on the farm in Birch Hills. Around 1927 he left t he farm and came west. He worked for the railroad for a short time for ju st cigarret money and a place to eat and sleep.

Before long he landed in Vancouver and got work on 'the boats'. In the ea rly days on the boats he was located in the Kootney Lake area doing his ti me as a fireman on the paddle wheelers Moiey and Nasookan. Moiey is a mus eem piece now in Kaslo and the Nasookan is somebodys house in the Tra il - Balfour Lake area.

Sometime in 1939 he met mum at 'Moose Hall' (a dance club of the day locat ed in the 600 block Burrard on the east side of the street just north of C hrist Chruch Cathedral) and on March 16, 1940 they married.

Later on, (I don't know exactly when) dad was an officer on the boa ts up in the Northwest Territories. He worked his way up the ranks to fir st officer and then in early 1942 he got his Captancy papers. Just abo ut this time mum complained that he was an absentee husband and so dad qu it the boats and took a job as a street car operator and later a bus drive r.

Dad retired on March 31, 1968 but after a boring 6 months of retireme nt he got a job as a security guard with Uniguard. He stayed with this f or 10 more years finally retiring from work at the age of 75. By this ti me mum was retired and they started playing 'bridge'. During his retireme nt years he travelled to all parts of the world. Dad enjoyed good health and a clear mind all his life. He drove his car r ight up until November 1995 when he had to go into hospital for an operat ion. This operation set him back and he never recovered to his normal sel f. From November until his death on March 14,1996 dad had a clear mind b ut was going down hill day by day. His sister Annie came out to visit h im for the last time on February 1 - 7. I was with him on his last d ay as was my brother Reg. If one must die then dad died in the best way possible, at home in his o wn bed with his 2 sons and wife there. Dad just slipped away about 7: 30 PM on March 14, 1996. He was just 2 days short of his 56th anniversa ry and 8 days short of his 93rd birthday. He is buried at Ocean View Cemetary in Burnaby just across from Central Pa rk. We will miss you dad.