Robert Brock Smye

1955-2014

With saddened hearts we announce the passing of Bob Smye on February 2, 2014 after losing a battle with his immense but fragile heart at the age of 58. A remarkable man is gone. The loss, to his family and friends, is indescribable.

The son of the late Robert and Connie Smye, Bob grew up in Ancaster, Ontario in a manly world of rugby, lacrosse and football, of outdoor hockey rinks and “five-meat” Christmas breakfasts.

But his life changed forever when he and a classmate at Ancaster High School left for Nova Scotia and Acadia University which, they understood, had a football team.

It was telling that they made the trip in a TriumphTR6 convertible; even then Bob had an effortless sense of style that seemed to harken back to an earlier era and continued though out his days.

Bob was a member of Acadia’s national championship football team.

That he played offensive line—the most selfless of positions—was entirely in keeping with the generous life that followed. For Bob was the best brother, the proudest dad, the greatest husband and the dearest

friend.

What is more, he made everything in his eventful life look easy: from his early days as a bouncer at the old Jury Room bar when he could always talk a rowdy customer out of the door instead of slapping him with a full nelson, to his successful career in the insurance business, where he became a highly respected partner at McKellar Structured Settlements Inc.

His greatest triumph, though, was the smooth transition he made from a male-oriented house in Ontario to a home full of women in Halifax, where he met and married the love of his life Denise Meade, and they raised their three beautiful daughters (Madelyn, Alexandra and Hannah).

Bob was a loving husband and a proud, protective dad. He loved to share stories about his beloved daughters--their latest accomplishments and challenges and his serious yet loving views on how they and he could manage both--with friends and business connections.

He liked to look new boyfriends straight in the eye and inform them that he wasn’t “afraid to go back to jail”.

They listened respectfully for Bob had the kind of unspoken toughness that meant he never had

to raise his voice for men of any age to listen.

But his generosity and graciousness forever stand as the standard by which these things are measured.

When friends moved into new homes a caterer would show up unannounced with a meal and bottle of wine to offset the difficulties of moving day. When hardship struck a Smye-cooked meal would magically appear at the door to ease the pain.

Inside the Smye household if guests needed water they got water. If they needed something stronger Bob was by their side filling their glass.

Mostly he cooked--whether on golf trips with his buddies, dinner parties with friends, "university dinners" or just meals with “his girls” at home in Halifax or at their cottage.

His joy in the kitchen explained Bob’s affinity for chef

Crocs. That, partly, was just his sense of style. Bob was the ultimate “metro-sexual”.

He wore salmon, a brother said, as well as he made it.

He also was forever enriching lives. The girls would groan as Bob meandered through public places in Halifax like a transplanted King of Kensington, yakking with the people he knew and shooting the breeze with the few he didn’t.

At silent auctions Bob would buy every gift certificate on the table. He quietly supported a variety of charities in a diversity of ways.

Bob was the anchor of his neighbourhood: the owner of the community snow blower, the surrogate father to the son of a single mom whom he tutored about everything from knotting a tie to throwing a spiral.

“Why can’t you be more like Bob,” the wives in his circle would repeatedly ask their sheepish husbands.

For that to happen they would have had to be able to outdrive everyone on the golf course, to be personally responsible for bringing peameal bacon to Nova Scotia, to be able to pull of wearing “Nantucket Red” golf pants. To be able to wow with a wit and style and, at the same time, illuminate the lives of everyone who mattered to him.

That list is long. But there will only ever be one Bob Smye.

Bob’s loss is felt by the Meade family, his brothers David and Jamie and his sister Lorna.

Bob also leaves behind friends from childhood and Crescent Beach, golf buddies, teammates and schoolmates, and a neighbourhood of heavy hearts.

His colleagues at McKellar and those he touched through the insurance business will miss his unique and respectful way of comforting others.

More than anything, Bob would not want his girls to be sad. It is through them that his light will shine.

The family would like to thank Dr. Keir Stewart and the staff at the QE2 CVICU.

Donations may be made to the Bob Smye Memorial Fund at Acadia University (Office of Advancement), the Brunswick Street Mission or a charity of your choice.

A funeral service will be held at St. Andrews Church, 6036 Coburg Rd. Halifax at 2 p.m. on Friday Feb. 7. Reception to follow in the church hall.