"Remember me in the family tree,
my name, my days, my strife,
Then I'll ride upon the wings of time,
and live an endless life".
Linda Goetz
my name, my days, my strife,
Then I'll ride upon the wings of time,
and live an endless life".
Linda Goetz
Clarence Lothian Smith
Born on Wednesday, June 4, 1924, Clarence was the son of Howard Clayton Smith and Jessie Margaret Dodd. He was named for his father's brother, Clarence Campbell Smith and his mother's uncle, Peter Lothian. He was one of nine children, six of whom lived to adulthood. Not much is known about his childhood in Quebec, but there is no doubt that there was hardship and sorrow, having lost a baby brother, Howard Claude, who died at ten months old, in 1928, and a sister, Norma Grace, who died in 1941 at 11 years old. It is with some sadness that I admit that I personally never took the opportunity to ask Dad what his early life was like, which of his sisters and brothers he was closest to growing up, how he felt about school, were his days filled with chores, what kind of friends did he have - all those things I now find myself curious about. I do hope that other family members did have those conversations with him, and that they might be generous enough to share those insights with the rest of us.
Shortly before his twenty-first birthday, Clarence voluntarily enrolled in the Canadian Army. His discharge papers show that he was enrolled in the Canadian Infantry Corp. at Montreal, on April 4, 1945 and was discharged on demobilization on May 6, 1946. While he never served overseas, Clarence received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal. Family lore has it that Clarence was not sent overseas because of some physical ailment. If this is the case, it must have been a temporary condition. On his discharge papers, there is mention of a scar on the left cheek, but this did not preclude him from active duty. Perhaps he signed up to volunteer at an earlier date but was rejected at that time and accepted once the physical ailment had cleared up. As Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 and the war in Asia was over by August, 1945, there would have been no need for him to be deployed overseas.
Clarence went to work on the ships that ran up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway and at some point settled in Port Colborne, Ontario. It would likely have been here that Clarence met, and at some point fell in love with, his cousin's wife, Irene (Carver) Bigelow. This love affair would result in Irene leaving her husband, Roy, taking their daughter and beginning a new life with Clarence. On January 8, 1950, Clarence and Irene's first child was born.
Clarence and Irene lived together and had four more children, before Irene's divorce was final and they married on November 12, 1956. In 1958, shortly before the birth of their seventh child, the couple moved into their own home in Crystal Beach, Ontario. Five more children followed from 1960 to 1972, when their last child was born. Clarence was employed at the Nickel Plant in Port Colborne, ON (INCO) from 1952 to 1975 when he was forced into retirement due to lung cancer. Clarence had the reputation of being a hardworking, reliable man and in addition to working full time for INCO, he took care of the properties of several people in Crystal Beach. Most of these were American citizens who owned summer homes in the area. For years Clarence mowed and raked their lawns in the summer and maintained the properties in the winter while the owners were out of the country. Always a sociable man, Clarence's retirement years were spent with Irene, visiting with friends, going to "Timmy's" and "playing the horses." After Irene died in 2000, Clarence moved into a retirement home in Fort Erie, Ontario, where he continued to charm the staff and other residents. At the time of his death on March 3, 2010, Clarence was Grandpa Smith to twenty-six biological grandchildren, several non-biological grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Since then another great-grandchild has joined the family.
This story of Clarence's life is incomplete and it is my hope that others in the family can add to it, giving new details and insights into his life, and perhaps clearing up any misinformation that they see. If you have anything you'd like to share with the family or if you see any corrections that could be made, please click here. Also, I have set up a Memories of Mom and Dad page on the site and am hoping that family members will contact me with their favourite memory of our parents. It is through our memories that future generations will gain the clearest picture of who they were. If you would like to share a memory, please click the contact link above. Please visit our Memories of Mom and Dad link and see what others have written.
Shortly before his twenty-first birthday, Clarence voluntarily enrolled in the Canadian Army. His discharge papers show that he was enrolled in the Canadian Infantry Corp. at Montreal, on April 4, 1945 and was discharged on demobilization on May 6, 1946. While he never served overseas, Clarence received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal. Family lore has it that Clarence was not sent overseas because of some physical ailment. If this is the case, it must have been a temporary condition. On his discharge papers, there is mention of a scar on the left cheek, but this did not preclude him from active duty. Perhaps he signed up to volunteer at an earlier date but was rejected at that time and accepted once the physical ailment had cleared up. As Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 and the war in Asia was over by August, 1945, there would have been no need for him to be deployed overseas.
Clarence went to work on the ships that ran up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway and at some point settled in Port Colborne, Ontario. It would likely have been here that Clarence met, and at some point fell in love with, his cousin's wife, Irene (Carver) Bigelow. This love affair would result in Irene leaving her husband, Roy, taking their daughter and beginning a new life with Clarence. On January 8, 1950, Clarence and Irene's first child was born.
Clarence and Irene lived together and had four more children, before Irene's divorce was final and they married on November 12, 1956. In 1958, shortly before the birth of their seventh child, the couple moved into their own home in Crystal Beach, Ontario. Five more children followed from 1960 to 1972, when their last child was born. Clarence was employed at the Nickel Plant in Port Colborne, ON (INCO) from 1952 to 1975 when he was forced into retirement due to lung cancer. Clarence had the reputation of being a hardworking, reliable man and in addition to working full time for INCO, he took care of the properties of several people in Crystal Beach. Most of these were American citizens who owned summer homes in the area. For years Clarence mowed and raked their lawns in the summer and maintained the properties in the winter while the owners were out of the country. Always a sociable man, Clarence's retirement years were spent with Irene, visiting with friends, going to "Timmy's" and "playing the horses." After Irene died in 2000, Clarence moved into a retirement home in Fort Erie, Ontario, where he continued to charm the staff and other residents. At the time of his death on March 3, 2010, Clarence was Grandpa Smith to twenty-six biological grandchildren, several non-biological grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Since then another great-grandchild has joined the family.
This story of Clarence's life is incomplete and it is my hope that others in the family can add to it, giving new details and insights into his life, and perhaps clearing up any misinformation that they see. If you have anything you'd like to share with the family or if you see any corrections that could be made, please click here. Also, I have set up a Memories of Mom and Dad page on the site and am hoping that family members will contact me with their favourite memory of our parents. It is through our memories that future generations will gain the clearest picture of who they were. If you would like to share a memory, please click the contact link above. Please visit our Memories of Mom and Dad link and see what others have written.