Obituary of William John Smith

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WILLIAM JOHN SMITH

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Bill was born on November 14, 1945 in Regina Saskatchewan and he passed away peacefully on October 15, 2021 at the Regina General Hospital with his beloved wife Marion at his side.

Bill was predeceased by his father William (known as “Dougal”) and his mother Jennie; his older brother Brian; mother and father-in law Thelma and Robert; sister-in-law Patricia, and niece Arleen. Bill is survived by his wife Marion; sister-in-Law Judy and her two sons; nephew Tim, wife Evelyne and their children Kendra and Austin; nephew Darryl and his boys Makario and Rawliegh; sister-in-Law Heather, husband Ron and their son; nephew Leon, wife Anne and their son Seth; sister–in-Law Brenda, husband Tim and her children, Beverly, husband Peter and their children Jessica, Emily and Haile, Jessica and her husband David and Paul; brother-in-Law Tom, wife Joyce and their sons Robert and Emile; and brother-in-law Kevin

Bill was raised in the town of Ogema Saskatchewan and attended all his schooling there. He was the youngest son of “Dougal” and Jennie Smith who owned and operated the local grocery store and abattoir. Bill was always a hard worker, and from a very young age helped out at the family store delivering groceries all over town, and also had a newspaper route.

When Bill was in Grade 8, he had a “lively” discussion with a teacher who taught French, and didn’t want English spoken during the class.  Bill told her; “How am I supposed to learn French, if I can’t speak English to know what it means in French?”

After that, Bill decided he had enough of school, and left to work full time in the family business. He went on to become a meat cutter in the family’s abattoir until 1969.Bill then went to work for Lewis Cattle Oiler as a travelling salesman for several years.

He moved to Regina in 1975 where he again put his skills as a meat cutter to work for Butcher Boy meats located in White City. Later on he became a wholesale food warehouse employee and delivery man for First Choice and then onto a similar position at Motherwell Foods. He ended his working career as a delivery driver for Compass Group Canada.  His wife Marion worked for the same company at the time and managed the cafeteria at the Co-operators building, so Bill became a very important “go-to errand guy,” whenever she needed anything at the cafeteria.

He met the love of his life Marion in 1975 while she was managing the cafeteria at the YWCA in Regina and he was making deliveries there for Butcher Boy Meats. They dated for four years, and were married on June 30, 1979 in Marion’s home town of Maymont, SK and set up their home in Regina.  They were married for 42 wonderful years and always remained each other’s best friend.

Both of them shared a love of sports, especially Bill’s beloved Regina Pats Hockey Club.  They have been season ticket holders for 45 years, and Bill became a well-known staple in the South East corner of the arena as the “guy in the jersey with all the Junior Hockey lapel pins.”

Bill first became a Pats season ticket holder along with his “little brother” Kurtis Lindskog who he met thru the Big Brother program. Bill and Marion were big fans of the CHL and attended 4 Memorial Cup Tournaments, one in London Ontario, one in Quebec City, and the two that were held in Regina.

Bill and Marion regularly watched the Saskatchewan Roughriders on TV, but attending Regina Red Sox baseball games became their favorite summertime activity along with their good friend Marilyn. 

Bill was well known to everyone at the park and routinely kept the umpires in line from his scooter parked strategically close behind home plate. Everyone could also “clearly” hear him heckling the opposition players with his “Hey Batter, Batter, swing Batter.” They were both there to join in the celebration when Regina won their back to back championships in 2011 and 2012.

Bill always had a love of farming, and especially loved harvest time.  Every chance he would get, he would help out at his best friends Pat and Perry Johnson’s farm near Ogema.

Later on, this interest led to him spending countless hours playing farming type games like Farmtown and HayDay on his laptop or Ipad.  He also enjoyed watching Youttube videos of various homesteading family and livestock ranchers and followed their weekly activities.

All of this allowed him to become very proficient using an Ipad, so he was also able to Facetime with his sisters-in-law weekly to keep up with all the family news.

His other hobbies over the years were Hunting and collecting Pats memorabilia. But his favorite, by far, was collecting lapel pins, mainly CHL and junior hockey ones, from both existing and past defunct teams.  He proudly displayed his hockey pin collection on his Pats jersey, where they covered the whole front of it.  He had well over 280 pins to his collection. At hockey games, new people would routinely stop to check his jersey out, and he loved discussing where all the pins came from especially his oldest and most prized ones.

Bill was a very social person and whether at hockey or ball games, or just out and about, he would love to visit with people and catch up with everyone’s news. He had a special appreciation for anyone in law enforcement or armed forces, and would get a tear in his eye when he read or heard of special stories of any service personnel. Marion and Bill also regularly attend the Memorial Day services each year at the Brandt Centre to show their appreciation for all the veterans and service groups.

Bill resided in the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre since 2018 as a long term resident of main 6.

Bill will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him, but our wonderful memories of him will keep him alive in our hearts.