Colin Smith Memorial Bench Fund

Our dad was one of the nicest and funniest people you could ever hope to meet.  He gave back to the community of Strathmore and surrounding areas in so many ways, whether through his work out of his shop at Colin's Automotive, helping others sell and find their new homes as realtor, helping protect the members of the community as an aux constable with the Strathmore RCMP, or by simply putting a smile on others' faces with a story or a joke through both his personal life and as a stand-up comic.  Our dad loved helping others, and doing whatever he could to make someone else's day a little brighter. On March 14th, 2015, while working on a vehicle for a friend at his home, our dad tragically lost his life when the truck slipped in the mud and fell off of the jacks with my dad underneath.  Words cannot begin to describe the loss and pain felt by Amy and myself, and how difficult every day has been without him.  We continue to try to heal, and find ways to honour the incredible person he was and his memory. It was our dad’s wish that when the day came, that he be cremated.  However, we feel that this has left both Amy and I, and likely many others, with something missing.  When someone is buried, we have a place to go, a place to visit, a place to talk.  We recognize that this person is no longer “there,” but we have a place to remember.  A memorial.  Years down the line, when someone asks who that person was, stories are told and memories are shared.  And we feel our dad deserves that memory and that honour. Amy and I are working with the town of Strathmore to have a memorial bench installed near our dad’s old automotive shop (now PHD Automotive).  We grew up in this shop, and this was where so many in the town first met our dad.  The bench will give others a place to go, reflect, and remember, and we can finally all have a place to sit down and talk to him again. The cost of the bench, installation, concrete pad, and plaque is a total of $1500.  Because Amy and I are in school, we are reaching out to family and community members for assistance in completing this memorial.  Thank you so much for taking your time to read through this, and any donation at all means the world to us and helps more than you know.