October 2008 issue
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OBITUARIES
Eustace William Smith, P.Eng.
APEGGA Life Member
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A Calgary member who raised four sons to follow in his engineering footsteps, Eustace William (Bill) Smith, P.Eng., passed away peacefully July 13 at age 82. Sons Stuart, Steve, Scott and Stan all went on to earn their P.Eng. designations and become APEGGA members.
Born Nov. 21, 1925, and raised in Montreal, Mr. Smith volunteered to join the Royal Canadian Navy at the age of 17. He served aboard the HMCS Hallowell as a wireless telegraphist on convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols in the North Atlantic during the Second World War.
While in port at Halifax in 1945, he met a young WREN named Jean Wright at a picnic. They married in 1951 after Mr. Smith graduated from McGill University with a degree in civil engineering. Together the couple raised seven children.
Throughout those busy years, Mr. Smith worked for Shawinigan Water and Power in Quebec, and Stone and Webster Consulting in New York City, and moved west to Calgary to work for Calgary Power, which would eventually become TransAlta Corp. The year was 1966, and he remained with the company until retiring as vice-president of customer service in 1985.
An active volunteer, Mr. Smith chaired Calgary Hire-a-Student, served as a board member of the Northwest Electric Light and Power Association, was a committee chair of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, and served as vice-president and then president of the Alberta Chamber of Commerce in 1985-1986.
He enjoyed camping and travelling with his family. A source of great joy was a cabin on Flathead Lake in Montana, where he spent many hours sailing.
At age 69, Bill began a second career as a gentleman rancher, raising cattle on a property near Sundre.
Mr. Smith is survived by his wife of 56 years, Jean Burnice Smith, their seven children — Susan, Sandra Schorr, Stuart, Sheena van Dyk, Stephen, Scott and Stan — and 18 grandchildren.
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