SMITH, KEVIN VINCENT CHARLES
With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kevin Vincent Charles Smith at his home in Geary, NB after a courageous three year battle with cancer. He was born in Fredericton, NB on September 17, 1965. Kevin is survived by his soulmate and loving wife of 26 years, Shelly (Gillett) Smith and his two wonderful children, Ryan Smith and Haley (Bradley Carr) Smith, both at home, who were the absolute lights of his life along with his much loved and faithful companion, Duke.
He will also be missed by his parents, Vincent and Rilla Smith of Geary; his brothers, David (Jane) Smith of Oromocto and Sean (Stephanie) Smith of Tracy; his mother-in-law, Linda (Robert) Fraser of Stanley; brother-in-law, Kevin Gillett of Geary; sister-in-law, Lori Gillett of Hoyt; several aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews as well as a tremendous amount of treasured friends and co-workers.
Kevin was predeceased by his father-in-law, Gerald Gillett; maternal grandparents, Minnie & Eugene Duffie and Osborne & Belle Smith; paternal grandparents, Orial & Margaret Howe and brother-in-law, Troy Charters.
Kevin graduated from Oromocto High School and Maritime Forestry School as a Forestry Technician. For the past 26 years he has worked in this field at DND Forestry doing every single day what he truly loved. Over the years, he received many awards through his career, most recently being awarded the Commanders Commendation Award in Witness of Outstanding Service. He loved his job and went willingly above and beyond even going as far as Hinton, Alberta fighting forest fires. Through his job he also was involved for several years with the Boy Scouts of Canada tree planting and received many awards for this as well.
Kevin enjoyed anything to do with the outdoors and nature, from hunting, salmon fishing or spending time at the family camp at Peltoma Lake canoeing, biking and spending quality time with family and friends. He was a past race car driver at the NBIS Streetstock #2 as well as a huge lifelong Montreal Canadians fan. Many Saturday nights you could find him playing poker with “the crew” and simply enjoying life with his loving family and huge circle of friends. Besides being a wonderful loving family man, Kevin was also extremely active in his community. He lived in Geary his entire life and enjoyed nothing more than helping out at church and community suppers and volunteering on the cemetery committee. He was also active, along with his wife, in trying to bring softball back to the community for the kids. If anyone needed a helping hand, Kevin was always there to lend one. That’s just the man he was.
Visitation will be held at the Oromocto Funeral Home, 108 Winnebago Street on Sunday, November 29, 2015 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm. The funeral service will take place at the Geary Baptist Church on Monday, November 30, 2015 at 2:00 pm. Rev. Robert Weaver will officiate. In lieu of flowers, memorial tributes in Kevin’s honour may be made to the DECRH Oncology Unit, Oromocto Extra-Mural Program or to a charity of the donor’s choice. Online remembrances may be left at www.oromoctofh.com