William Earl Smith

William, known to many as Bill, was in the Canadian Armed Forces as a young man, and over the span of his life worked a variety of jobs. He was a farmer, employee at Alcan, roofer, sanitation engineer, and Commissionaire.  His family would argue that his toughest job was being a husband, father and grandfather to a large, loving and outgoing family. 

Bill enjoyed many hobbies and believed the key to life was to always keep moving.  He enjoyed baseball, curling, golf, darts, camping, fishing, hunting, wine making, beer making, maybe some hooch making, but that is supposed to be a secret. He was very creative and spent his retired years keeping himself busy with one craft or another.  He was excellent at wood carving and created walking sticks, canes, lamps, candle holders, and whatever else he could think of from his favorite medium, diamond willow.  Animals brought Bill great joy. He loved dogs, cats, and birds. He could always be found sneaking treats to the dogs, or feeding all of “his” birds in Millie’s backyard.  

Bill was a charming, good-hearted man with a great sense of humor which could sometimes, be a little quirky. He was always fun to be around and he made a friend of everyone he met.  He was a natural people person and he made many friends throughout his life. 

He was the son of William and Margaret Smith. He has two brothers, Tom (Sheila) and Garvin (Kaye), and one sister, Ellen (Tom), with numerous nieces and nephews.

With his first wife, Joyce Christopherson, he had one daughter, Sherrilu Pollon.

William was predeceased by his second wife, Imelda Smith after 30 years together and three more children. Two daughters, Sharon (Dan), and Kim; and a son, Darcy (Ali). They had 6 grandchildren, Tim (Susanne), Christopher (Liz), Tayla, Danny (Chastity), Lisa (Joe), Matthew (Terri), and Jessie; 10 and half great-grandchildren, Alexandra, Xian, Madeline, Danicia, Julia, Kauner, Emily, Patrick, Liam, Sophia, and one more on the way from Matthew and Terri.

For the last 33 years of William’s life, he had a companion, Millie Vincent. Her family became part of William’s family too. Millie has 4 children, Debbie, Darlene, Denice, and Dean; and 5 grandchildren, Bobby Joe (Robert), Dixie, Taren (Bradley), Newt (Kelly) and Sky (Tucker).

William taught us all to be kind, responsible, proud, and to just take life one day at a time and enjoy it. He was a free spirit and tried to cram as much into his life as he could. He succeeded!

A Celebration of Life will take place at Pierson’s Funeral Services Forest Lawn Chapel (4121 17^th Avenue SE, Calgary, AB) on Thursday, January 4, 2024 from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. with tributes to begin at 11:30 a.m.