Obituary of Vera Gladys Smith

Vera Gladys (Ogden) Smith, born November 13, 1931, passed away on August 29, 2012. Vera is survived by her husband of 63 years, Clayton Robert Smith; her five children, Nelson, Lorraine, Valerie, Dwight, and Virginia; seven grandchildren; Ben, Orion, Andrew, Jean-Benoit, Sabrina, Jalisa and Emily; two great grandchildren; Eevie-Joy and Nioki; one brother, Wilbur and three sisters; Elizabeth, Jacqueline and Barbara. Vera was a very innovative and creative person. Most of her life she was self employed and was successful with everything she set out to do. When her children were very young she started sewing and weaving and sold her goods from the veranda of her country house in Fredericton Junction. Later she started taking her products to a booth at the Canadian National Exhibition. When her oldest child was 11 years old she moved to Saint John and bought a boarding house called the "Dew Drop Inn". After selling the boarding house, she founded and ran a daycare called "Panda Nursery and Daycare". Vera was one of the pioneers in the daycare business. As women were starting to enter the workforce in great numbers, she thought of offering this service that became a trend afterwards. During that time, she was also asked to be the representative for the New Brunswick Daycare Association and influenced the government in new daycare legislation. She ran that business until 1994 when she retired and spent winters in Florida with Clayton, playing tennis and golf. Vera spent the last seven years devoted to caring for her husband until Jan 2012 when he went to Ridgewood Veterans Wing. She was a devoted wife and a great mother. We will miss her dearly. In keeping with Vera’s wishes, a celebration of her life will be held at a later date. For those who wish, remembrances to the Canadian Cancer Society or to Bobby’s Hospice would be appreciated by the family. Arrangements are under the care of Brenan's Funeral Home, 111 Paradise Row, Saint John (634-7424).