SMITH, MARY JOYCE (FIRMIN) - Mary Joyce (Firmin) Smith died peacefully in her sleep at home on October 1 at the age of 93. She kept her wit and lively sense of humour until the end. Mary met her future husband, the late Prof W.Y. Smith, professor emeritus of UNB, on a train to Oxford. Well, actually, they had dated a few times during the Second World War and when he had returned to Saint John he told his parents there “is one girl I would like to meet again”. Mary was always vague about whether she had remembered Bill. Born in London on May 14, 1921, to Maurice and Dorothy Firmin, she moved to Underlyn farm in Marden, Kent, with her two sisters Joan and Jean and her brother Alan when their mother died when Mary was five. She loved animals and was a vegetarian until she was drafted into the British army at the onset of war. In 1949 she boarded an ocean liner to make her first trip abroad, to New York to marry Bill. They married at the famous Little Church Around The Corner. When they moved to Fredericton she thought it was a town where bears roamed the streets. It wasn’t quite that bad. But she always said she was the first woman to take a baby into a liquor store in New Brunswick, simply because it never occurred to her not to. She thought of herself as a pioneer and laughed at the conventional. She was always proud to be a Canadian citizen. She was a strong supporter of women’s rights, women’s careers, women politicians, women’s friendships. Personally though, she loved children, cooking, the quiet life at home. She loved and was loved by her English nieces and nephews: Paul, Ian, Margo, Angela, Jane and Jo. And her Canadian nieces and nephews: Ed, Cathy, David, Rod, Barb, John and Bev. And their children and spouses. Only her sister-in-law and husband, Jean and Cec Baxter of Sudbury, Ontario, survive of her generation. She was a devoted mother to Bill of Fredericton, to Elizabeth and her husband Clive Edwards of London, England, and adored her grandson Robbie, now 20. Mary was able to remain in her home after breaking her hip two years ago because of the outstanding attention of live-in care-giver Randy Geneau, assisted by Wendy Boulter. Thanks also to the wonderful and essential nurses of the extramural program and care-givers Jo-Anne Caissie and others.
Never a church-goer, Mary knew the words of most of the hymns from her days at boarding school.
A visitation and remembrances of Mary will be held at McAdam’s Funeral Home on Saturday, October 4th, 2014 from 2 to 4 pm. On-line condolences may be made at www.mcadamsfh.com