OTTAWA — Jack Smith, Ottawa’s best-known kosher caterer, died April 7 at age 77.
Because of the onset of Pesach and the great distances many of his family had to travel, his funeral was not held until April 12. People came from far and wide to pay their respects to a man who was larger than life. The funeral chapel was nearly filled to capacity an hour before the scheduled time of the funeral and was overflowing when the ceremony began.
The second-youngest in a family of 13 siblings, Smith himself was the father of 10, grandfather of 12 and great-grandfather of one.
His son, Nathan, summarized his father’s attributes, noting that he was “a loving husband, a father, a zaide, a great grand-dad, the preemie son of a shoemaker, one of 13 siblings, the go-to guy for any need at any time; a shul builder, a camp builder, a community builder, a stalwart supporter of every Jewish cause on earth, and my best friend.”
His presence was known and felt throughout the community, as his business and philanthropy were always intertwined. Families, organizations and simchahs of every kind were the beneficiaries of Smith’s business, Creative Kosher Catering, which is now run by his son, David.
Stories abound in the Jewish community of Smith’s largesse. Nathan spoke of the many notes that the family received telling of his father’s kindness.
“Many of the notes spoke about the many a bris, bar mitzvah and wedding our dad catered, knowing the people could not pay him but telling them not to worry, that everyone should be able to have a simchah like a mensch.”
Having worked seven days a week since childhood, Smith enjoyed a “forced retirement” caused by a near-death heart attack and stroke a dozen years ago. He was not expected to live but, to the amazement of all, he was able to have 12 more years with his family.
His eldest son, Moishe Smith, president of B’nai B’rith International, credited Linda, his father’s wife for the past quarter century (first wife, Inez, died in a car accident in 1975) for keeping his father alive and happy, and for being a devoted and loving mother to them all.
“I am going to tell all of you here, the unsung hero of the life of Jack Smith is our mom, Linda. Our family enjoyed 12 extra years of our dad because of her. She treated my dad like a prince, like the prince that he was, and none of us will ever forget her for that.”
Smith was a volunteer fundraiser extraordinaire, lending his hand to more than 20 local community charities. He worked for State of Israel Bonds, B’nai B’rith, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the Jewish National Fund, which honoured him at its 1988 dinner. He also served as president of Camp B’nai Brith, where all of his children spent happy summers, and he was a driving force behind the B’nai B’rith Millionaire’s Night and Man of the Year Dinner, and was instrumental in raising great sums of money for Congregation Machzikei Hadas.
The shul’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka, recalled how Smith had devised the idea of giving away a Rolls Royce as a raffle prize for the synagogue, intent on ensuring that his beloved shul would be able to carry on and not be in financial difficulty.
Bulka reminded the congregation that “the rules say you are not supposed to be sad on chol hamoed.”
He concluded his eulogy by saying to Jack Smith, “Thank you for all that you did for our community, for our shul, for all of our families.”