August 30, 1919 – July 17, 2013

Smith, Margit (nee Samel). In her 94th year, Margit passed peacefully at Blackadar Continuing Care in Dundas on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. Loving wife to Lloyd Smith for 62 years; mother to Tom (Doris-Anne DeWildt-Smith)  and Peter (Patricia Jefkins-Smith); grandmother to Laura (Jason Honegger), Alison (Kevin Morgan), Elizabeth (Scott Dunlop), Karin, Kathryn, Bryan and Kristin; great grandmother to Daniel and Caelan.  Margit was born in Chomutov, Czechoslovakia to Rudolf and Milada Samel in 1919. As a daughter of a well-to-do merchant, she grew up in a life of privilege until her father’s death during the depression brought hardship to the family. Along with her sister (Ruth), her mother and her extended family, she fled Nazi persecution in 1938, arriving in Canada in 1939 to work at a relative’s glove factory. In 1946, she enrolled in Engineering Physics at the University of Toronto where she met fellow student Lloyd. When asked how she chose her program, she would claim that her English was weak and the reason she enrolled in Engineering was that she recognized the Greek mathematical symbols on the brochure. Following her graduation as the only woman in her class in 1950, she and Lloyd married in 1951.  They lived in their house on Victoria Street in Dundas for the next 58 years until moving to Blackadar Continuing Care in 2009. Margit was an amazing woman who always put the needs of her family and friends ahead of her own. The values she taught us of hard work, self sacrifice and love have shaped who we have become. To honour her memory, the family will be hosting a memorial for friends and family to share and celebrate her life. This will take place on Sunday August 18th, 2013 at 2 p.m. at the Cattel Centre, 45 Main Street in Dundas, (next door to Funeral Home). The family would like to thank the wonderful staff at Blackadar Continuing Care for their loving care of Margit as well as Doctors Nash and West who cared for her for so many years. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations in her memory be made to the Dundas Salvation Army Food Bank.