Mrs. Christina Harvey Smith

Smith, Christina Harvey

With her family by her side, Christina Smith, age 80, of Kenora, Ontario, passed away peacefully on April 9, 2015 at the Lake of the Woods District Hospital.

She will be lovingly remembered by her daughter and son-in-law, Diane and Craig Debbo, five grandchildren, Maxim, Jason, Natalia, Matthew and Joseph of Kenora; great-niece Laura Finlayson and husband, Rob, and their children, Amelia and Ella of Winnipeg; and Craig’s parents, Cedric and Pam Debbo of Brooklin, Ontario. She will be greatly missed by friends, Melanie and Ken Patterson, Jan and Alec Coats, the Hearts of Knox Quilters, longtime neighbours on Cambrian Drive, many former nursing colleagues, and lifelong friends in the Bahamas and the UK. Chris was predeceased by her mother-in-law Elizabeth (Gordon) Smith, father and mother Peter and Minnie Goodsir, husband Charles, aunt Nan Gillies, and sister-in-law Mayme (Smith) Moore.

Chris was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England on November 6, 1934. She was sent north to Scotland to live with her grandmother when WWII broke out while her parents continued to work in England. She spent a large portion of her childhood with her cousin Alec and spoke of him as a brother. She returned to England to attend high school in Leeds, Yorkshire. Chris then pursued her dream of becoming a nurse and attended University College Hospital in London, England. She completed her 4 years of training in 1957, and with further training, became a midwife. Chris loved her younger years- playing tennis, going to see Wimbledon, seeing London theatre productions, and being in charge of large nursing wards as students. Chris practiced midwifery in England until she took a trip to the Bahamas to visit a friend from nursing school. Once she arrived in the Bahamas, she didn’t leave. She continued to practice as a midwife and RN, and enjoyed sailing, boating, and beachcombing, and the friends that she made. In 1970, Chris married Charlie Smith, formerly of Keewatin, Ontario, at the Nassau Yacht Club. In 1973, shortly after Bahamas Independence, Chris immigrated with her husband and daughter to Winnipeg and then to Kenora in 1975, where she has chosen to remain, happily making Kenora her home. Chris resumed her nursing career in Canada, working at Birchwood Terrace and Home Care. Chris always was very much a professional RN, and nursing and caregiving were very much part of her identity. Even after her retirement, Chris continued to caregive for her sister-in-law, a close older friend, and her grandchildren- she was loyal, enduring, and compassionate in her caregiving roles.

While widowed at a fairly young age with a young daughter, Chris stoically kept moving forward. With no family of her own in Canada, she remained in Kenora, growing very close to Charlie’s sister. She bought her own boat and began to navigate the Lake of the Woods on her own and with her daughter. Chris joined Scottish Country Dancing. She was an adherent of Knox United Church. She read thousands of books and made hundreds of trips to the Kenora Public Library. She maintained her roots and friendships over her lifetime through letter writing and frequent trips to Scotland and the Bahamas. She walked lengths of beaches in the Bahama Islands, Scotland and Florida. She thoroughly researched the genealogy of all the branches of her family. In 2001, she and her 5 closest nursing school friends from Toronto, the Bahamas, and England had their own reunion in London, England and then joined University College Hospital for their nursing class reunion- a highlight of Chris’ life. A talented knitter for the first part of her life, she then joined the Hearts of Knox Quilters and grew her love for and gift of quilting. She grew to love this part of the world- the lake, blueberry picking, swimming each summer, going for walks, and found it all very beautiful. This last part of her life circled around her love for her grandchildren and seeing them grow and develop.

A Graveside Service will be held at the Lake of the Woods Cemetery on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at 1:00 pm with Cheryl Kinney- Matheson officiating.

Friends are invited to gather afterward for refreshments at 2:00pm at Knox United Church. In lieu of flowers, donations in Chris’ memory may be made to the Hearts of Knox Quilters, the Kenora Public Library, or a charity of one’s choice.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.”- Proverbs 17:22

Online condolencces may be made at www.brownfuneralhomekenora.com

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