Obituary of Jason Scott Smith
Always in our hearts, Jason
Jason grew up on South Drive at a time you could go outside in the morning and come home when the street lights came on. He went to Glenridge, Oakridge and Sir Winston schools. He was always adding more friends to the posse already terrorizing South Drive on their bikes. He loved business and even started his first business at 12 years old. It was called Shoestring Lawn Care. Jason would collect Molson twist caps and paint them different colours. Green ones were the most expensive service on your lawn. He then went around the neighbourhood and sold these caps to get enough money to buy a lawnmower.
Jason was active in sports with football and racquetball and returned later to help coach the Bulldogs at Sir Winston.
After completing high school, Jason boarded a bus and took a job at the Banff Springs Hotel. This decision turned out to be a good one as he met Kathy, the love of his life.
Jason liked camping, hiking in the woods and did some fly fishing. All of these activities he carried on within his married family years.
-written lovingly by Kent, Jason’s dad
Jason and I met at the Banff Springs Hotel in April 1991. I was fortunate enough to move into the dorm room two doors over. Jason and his roommates were relaxing and enjoying their Sunday wine and watching from the open doorway as the “new girl” was moving in. Jason and his roommates volunteered to help with unloading the car and that was the beginning of our friendship which quickly turned into love. We were married a year and a half later in London, Ontario and began our lives in a tiny apartment in St. Catharines that we were proud to call our own.
Jason loved being a dad. We have three amazing children – Monica, Carter and Hannah. We had the kids in a short span of time – three kids in three years – and it was joyful and crazy and busy. He was never too tired to bring one of the kids to me in the middle of the night to feed them, change a diaper or go for a 3 a.m. car ride. He loved to play with the kids on the floor as they got a little older and invented many games that involved running, jumping and dog-piling on top of him – escape from Daddy-traz was a favourite. Jason also loved swimming in the pool with the kids and together they invented many games together. When Carter was still little enough, Jason would put Carter on his shoulders and together they would jump off the diving board and Jason would launch Carter out of the water like a rocket. Jason made life at home fun. He was also very compassionate towards our children and accepting of who they are and their individuality.
Jason always knew he wanted to have his own business and be his own boss. Jason and Nick Paoliello formed a partnership 10 years ago and over that timespan they have created Pay-4-Performance Marketing. He loved being an entrepreneur and often joked that it was his chosen lifestyle. He also loved his P4P family.
Jason had two charities that were close to his heart – Huntington Society and Autism Ontario – Niagara. His Grandma Dorthea and Stan Edwards, who was like a grandfather to him, inspired him to volunteer his time with these two charities. By combining his love of racing and the desire to create a new fundraiser, Indy for Hungtington’s and Indy for Autism were born. Huntington disease has touched the lives of many family members. Autism became part of our lives when our son, Carter, was diagnosed with this neurodevelopmental disorder at the age of two.
One day Jason decided he needed a hobby and one day he decided he was fed up with cutting our front lawn/weeds. With the help of some handy friends, we now have raised vegetable gardens in our front yard and back yard. He particularly enjoyed working in the front gardens because people would stop to talk with him and he could give away vegetables. His favourite crop was garlic – he wanted to know everything there was to know about growing garlic. He was always talking about the health benefits of garlic.
This October Jason and I were looking forward to celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. He was very proud that we were about to reach this milestone because we worked as a team in every aspect of our lives. Our children are now officially adults and he was so proud of them and loved them deeply. We were just getting to the good part. He is still with us in our hearts, so we will carry on and show him how great life really is. I love you buddy.
“He always had a vision for something great.” – Chris McKay, Jason’s roommate from the Banff Springs Hotel.
-written lovingly by Kathy, Jason’s wife and partner for life
Jason passed away suddenly on June 18, 2017 at the age of 45. He will be remembered in our hearts by his three children Monica, Carter and Hannah Smith and wife Kathy (Thomas) Smith; his parents Kent and Marsha (Nichol) Smith; his brother Joel Smith and nieces Natalie and Madelaine; his Aunt Carolyn Imre and cousins Alison and Cristy; his Uncle Wayne and Aunt Eileen Nichol and cousins Zachary, Noah, Emily; his parents-in-law Jim and Mary Thomas; his sister-in-law and family Carole and Darcy Goettling and niece Abbie and nephew Jack. Cremation will take place.
Jason's life will be uniquely celebrated on Thursday, July 6th, 2017 between 2 and 5 p.m. with tributes delivered at 3 p.m. at the eco Life Celebration Centre at the Centre for Conservation, "Glen Elgin Room" of Balls Falls Conservation Area (3292 Sixth Avenue, Jordan, ON). Parking will be provided free of charge.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Carter's Registered Disability Savings Plan may be made direct via EFT to cartersRDSP@gmail.com. Please create a security question of "Who is this in memory of?" (answer being: Jason) or via direct deposit or in person to President's Choice Financial to:
Transit #: 30800
Institution #: 010
Account number is 0093998474.
We invite you to share in your memories, photos and sentiments of Jason here at his memorial website.
Uniquely entrusted to eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc.
Life Celebrations. Done Differently.
