From a pamphlet prepared by Lenore Neuman
daughter of Barbara (Smith) Neuman and
grand daughter of Ida (Day) Smith.
Web page by Ida's nephew, Michael Caughey

Day, Ida Evelyn. On Sunday, August 22, 1909, to Ethel Emily (nee Williams) and Professor William Henry Day of Guelph, Ontario. A little sister for Stella Marjorie. Proud grandparents are Esther Emily (McCarter) & Leander Eliphalet Williams, and PolIy Ann (Switzer) & Nathan Day.

Ida Smith passed away on Wednesday, January 23, 2002, in Toronto, Ontario.

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Ida grew up in the university town of Guelph, Ontario, where her father, Professor William Henry Day, taught at the OAC.

She was the second of four children. Her sister, StelIa, was older by 2 years & her 2 brothers, William Nathan and Henry Allan were 2 years and 6 years younger respectively. Ida was predeceased by all her siblings; Harry in 1966, Bill in 1976 and Stella in 1984.

In 1923 the family moved from Guelph to Bradford, Ontario, where Prof Day designed and implemented the drainage system for the Holland Marsh.

In 1928 Ida enrolled at the Macdonald College at the University of Guelph where she graduated in 1930 with a degree in Home Economics.

She moved back to Bradford in 1933 and it

was there that she met Ray Cameron Smith. Ray was working on the Holland Marsh at the time.

On October 29th, 1936, Ray and Ida were married in the little town of Newtonville, Ontario, now part of Toronto. Their first child Barbara Ann was born in Bradford in September 1937. After living near Baden and in Bradford, the family moved to Toronto in 1940. Both their sons, Ray Telford (March 1942), and James Cameron (Dec 1950), were born in Toronto. There the family prospered and Ray took on ever increasing responsibilities and eventually owned his own service station.

Ida also contributed to the financial stability of the family by taking in boarders and sewing everything from aprons to wedding gowns. She was also quite involved in the St. Paul's United Church women's group and the Scout Auxiliary.

Ida did a fair bit of travelling in her time. She had as a partner, a friend of many years, Connie Riley, who she travelled with since Smitty was always too busy to take time for leisure. Ida and Connie travelled through Europe and the Far East, seeing many countries like Japan, Singapore and Germany. Ray and Ida did have a couple of trips to Europe as well as New Zealand and Australia.

In her later years, Ida took great pleasure in her knitting and quilting. She never planned on quilting. In her younger years it was something that her Mother did, but it wasn't for her. Later though, she came to enjoy it and made over 100 quilts, pleasing so many people with gifts of her beautiful handwork. She was also very generous with her afghans, of which she made well over 200.

Ida is survived by her husband, Ray, and their three children, Barbara, Ray and Jim, as well as 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

Footnote: Ida's husband Ray died July 2003.