Concordia Journal Home > Archives > September 3, 2009 issue >

In Memoriam: Martha Mavis Smith 

• Back to Original Version

Concordia lost another longtime member of the community in the passing of Martha Smith. She died on Aug. 13 at the Montreal General Hospital after a lengthy illness at the age of 63.

Smith first worked at Sir George Williams University and then at Concordia in the Student Accounts Office from June 14, 1966, until her retirement on Oct. 29, 2004.
She took evening courses from 1970 to 1980, graduating in the spring of 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts.

Katherine Hedrich, Manager, said, “I had the pleasure of working with Martha for more than 20 years. I quickly learned that Martha Smith was the key ‘go-to’ person in the Student Accounts Office. Martha was welcoming, supportive and could always be counted on to help get things done. She was a calm, light-hearted person, and had a unique, infectious laugh that I will forever miss.

“As I learned at a recent gathering to celebrate her life, her former manager, the late Mr. Fred Sauer, would always say when leaving the office: ‘Goodnight, Miss Smith’. I can’t think of any words more fitting now.”

Smith will be dearly missed by her devoted husband Donald Denver DeGruchy, brother Allan M. Smith, nephew David Marcon-Smith, and her cousins, aunt and uncle.