Smith, William Paul

Smith, William Paul

January 17, 1936 – October 7, 2019

The family of William Paul Smith of Langham is heart-broken to report his sudden, completely unexpected death. Despite the best efforts of a surgical team at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, what at first seemed like a belly ache revealed itself as something deadly and he succumbed on Monday, October 7, 2019. He was 83. His wife of 64 years, Floreen, and daughter Denise (dee) Hobsbawn-Smith were at his bedside. Paul, as he was known, is survived by his wife Floreen, nee Hofer; daughters Lee (Lyle Burton) of Woodbridge, ON, and Denise (Dave Margoshes), of the Saskatoon area; sons Blaine (Joni O’Grady) of Bowden, AB, and  Brad of Saskatoon; grandchildren Darl and Dailyn Hobsbawn, Phoenix  and Morgan Smith and Brett Farkas-Smith and his mother, Val Farkas, as well as a step-granddaughter Rachel O’Grady; a sister, Patricia (Pat) Barty and a sister-in-law, Lila Pendley. He was predeceased by a third son, Glenn, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1982. Born in Woodstock, ON, in 1936, he was a competitive bicycle racer before joining the Air Force at 21. He and Floreen, a Langham-area farm girl who’d also joined the Air Force, married in 1955. During a 20-year career in the Air Force, he worked on the aborted Avro Arrow – the cancellation of the Arrow program by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker played a part in his decision to leave the Air Force. He pursued an education degree at University of Victoria and spent a year teaching industrial arts in the Fraser Valley but decided teaching was not for him. Paul and Floreen returned to Saskatchewan in 1973 just as her parents were retiring from their farm in the sand hills south of Langham, and this Ontario city boy learned to be a dry land farmer. To supplement the farm’s income, Paul, a journeyman electrician, had a number of off-farm jobs, including at the potash mine at Vanscoy and at the Eldorado uranium mine in Uranium City, SK, where he was chief electrician. Later, he and Floreen operated a successful specialty canvas sewing business and Paul, the son of a tapestry designer, leaned to operate a sewing machine. After over 35 years on the farm, Paul and Floreen retired to a small house in Langham, where he was happily working his way through the Saskatoon Public Library’s mystery novel collection. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Paul’s name to the Canadian Mental Health Association Saskatoon Branch. A visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at the Dalmeny Funeral Home, 139 3^rd Street, Dalmeny, followed by cremation. A Celebration of Paul’s Life will be held on Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. also at the Dalmeny Funeral Home. Arrangements entrusted to DALMENY FUNERAL HOME 306-254-2022.