Thomas Matthew Smith

Matt was born in England and at an early age he enlisted with the Royal British Army and served overseas in the Berlin airlift, as well as at the Suez Canal in Egypt. He spoke fondly and with great pride of this period in his life. Between deployments he met his first love Florrie (Flo) at a dance. Soon after, they started a family.

In 1966 they made the decision to move to British Columbia Canada, settling in Surrey / Delta area before eventually setting roots in Prince George where they were surrounded by their many children, grandchildren and eventually great grandchildren.

For the most part Matt was self-employed sole proprietor as an appliance technician, however his passion was communicating with people worldwide on his HAM/Amateur Radio. He would often be found in the back room of their home talking to friends he had made as far away as Germany, as well as other corners of the world. From his time in the army Matt was also highly proficient in morse code along with computer coding and other modern technology.

His other passion was ballroom dancing. He spoke proudly of his time in Berlin where he taught other solders from around the world to art of dance in his spare time. Matt’s love of dance was something he shared with his wife, Flo.

Matt and Flo would tour around British Columbia while taking in all of its beauty as much as they could. Often times after retirement they could be found in Penticton enjoying the sunny Okanagan.

His love of travel led to eventually becoming a snowbird, and commuting back and forth from Canada to Arizona and eventually settling down in Yuma AZ with his second love and wife Patricia (Pat) for many happy years.

He is predeceased by his two wonderful wives, Florrie (Flo) and Patricia (Pat), as well as his son Duncan.

He is survived by: Daughter Susan (Tom), and Sons Anthony and Robert. Grandchildren; Tamara, Sarah (Don), Tara, Bryan, Lisa (Anthony), Danica (Jason), Jodi, Angela (Jayden), Alyson and Colin, Dustin and Travis. Great Grandchildren; Tristan, Kyra, Adam, Riley, Xavier, Keagan, Kieran, Elijah, Jason, Matthew and Noah.

To respect Matt’s wishes a service was not held however, family members were able to assemble for a celebration of his life on November 18th 2023. In honor of Matt, we shared in a customary sip of Sherry in toast of the adventurous life Matt lead.

As a tribute to our loving father, grandfather, great grandfather we would like to pay special thanks to all those who cared for Matt in his later years at Two Rivers Senior lodge, as well as Gateway. The care and compassion shown to Matt never went unnoticed. For that we thank you.