Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to take a moment to remember a constituent of Hay River South and long-time resident of Hay River, Mr. Henry Smith, who passed away on Saturday, January 29th, at the age of 77.
Henry and his wife, Angie, moved north from Saskatchewan in 1970. They built their home in Hay River, where they raised their nine children: Fred; Bernard, or Ben, as he’s called; Perry; Janne; Raphvel, or Rafe, as we call him; Day; Miles; Eddie; and Angie. These were their nine children and they all grew up in quite a small house just at the outskirts of Hay River.
Eddie is to be married this spring to Diana Yaeger, Mr. Speaker’s constituency assistant, and I’m sure that Henry not being there for such a family gathering and such a special occasion will be very felt by the Smith family.
Henry and Angie provided a spiritual home and a loving home for their family. Henry was well known and respected in the community and spent countless hours volunteering and serving others. Whether it was at church or working on the skidoo trails, he was a very hard-working and generous person. Henry enjoyed being outdoors, riding his motorcycle and skidooing. He is particularly well known for being the key person involved in creating the ski trails in Hay River, making signs for the trails to Enterprise and Great Slave Lake, which is now known as the Canada Trail.
Henry, by trade, was a heavy duty mechanic for highways, Department of Transportation for the Government of the Northwest Territories, from 1972 until he retired in 1995. He was a skilful mechanic and loved to work on machinery.
Mr. Speaker, I ran into Henry Smith at the airport just a couple of weeks ago and had a great visit with him as we reminisced about another mutual friend who had lived in Hay River for many years, Margurite Delancey, who had actually just passed away a few days prior. I did not know, from chatting with Henry and Angie that day, that Henry was as ill as he was. He was very, very sharp, he was cheerful, he was communicative and I was so surprised to hear of his passing when Rafe called me this past Saturday.
Mr. Speaker, Henry was a dedicated and loving husband, father and grandfather, and will be missed by everyone. I send my heartfelt condolences to the Smith family. Although no words can ease their pain, we hope that they will know that they are in our prayers and our thoughts today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
