John Roxburgh SMITH

SMITH, John Roxburgh John was born November 10, 1936 in London, Ontario to Mildred and Hector Smith. Predeceased by his brother Garnet (Betty Smith). He died at the Hamilton General Hospital on December 6, 2018. He attended Hillfield College, Hamilton Teacher's College, and McMaster University. He served as an alderman for Hamilton during two different periods in his life, and from 1967-1977, he was the Conservative MPP for Hamilton Mountain. He was also Minister of Correctional Services and Minister of Government Services. For four years, he sat on the Immigration Refugee Board of Canada. His last quest in life was to convince the Provincial Government to replace the statue of Chief Tecumseh in the lobby of Queen's Park. During the exodus of refugees from Vietnam, he invited a small group of friends to form a federally registered charity known as The Mountain Fund To Help The Boat People. Over a period of fourteen years, the group brought hundreds of Vietnamese men, women, and children to Canada. In John's final days they came from everywhere to hold his hand. Late in life John was Ordained into the Reformed Episcopal Church (Anglican). He served as Rector of St. George's Hamilton for ten years and remained as Archdeacon. He lived his life according to a firm belief in the Gospel message. John leaves to mourn his wife of forty-two years, Judy (Pollard) Smith, their three children and four grandchildren: Hayley and Isaac Post and their children Edwina and Hamish of Alexandria, Virginia, Drew and Elizabeth Smith and their children Charlotte and Lucia of Burlington, John (Jock) Smith and his wife Ashley Robinson of Hamilton. He leaves behind many nieces and nephews, including Susan and Roy Smith of Kanata, and Murray and Maureen Smith of Constance Bay. Jan (Pollard) Rowe and Rob Rowe of Kingston will miss him, as will Brian and Gail Pollard of Spain. Funeral services will be held at Apostolic Holiness Church, 40 Empress Ave., Hamilton, on Thursday, December the 13th at 2:00 p.m. Thank you to our friends at Apostolic Holiness for lending us their sanctuary. Our sincere thanks to the Rev'd Paul Luth and the Rev'd Dr. John Ferns, and to the wonderful staff in Cardiac Care at the Hamilton General Hospital. If you so wish, donations may be made to St. George's Church at 134 Emerson Street, Hamilton, ON, L8S 2X8, or to a charity of your choosing.