Peter Smeaton
elevated UjC0E Peter Smeaton
November 2, 1951 – April 23, 2021
elevated UjC0E It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Peter John Smeaton on April 23, 2021 at the age of 69. Beloved husband of 37 years to Maureen. Caring and devoted father to Jessica (Stephen) Stock of Calgary, and Alison Smeaton of Thornhill. Much loved grandpa to Isabelle and Michael Stock. Cherished brother to Allen Smeaton and Brenda (Al) Putre. Loved uncle of Andrew, Gary (Trista, Preston and Madison) and Brian. He is predeceased by his parents, John Smeaton and Doris Higgerty, and sister, Patricia. He will be missed by the Graham in-laws, Dan (Carol), Cel (Albert), Rita (Don), Tim (Cathy), Joan (Tom), Rose (Rob), Eileen (Lyle), Fran (Bill) and Lou (Connie) and their families. Peter will be lovingly remembered in the hearts of many nieces, nephews, family and friends.
elevated UjC0E Peter was in his 50th season as an off -ice official for the NHL, officiating games in Toronto, Montreal and many other cities. Over his career, he worked at over 2,000 NHL games and over 1,000 junior games visiting almost every NHL arena. Peter was the long-time official scorer in Toronto. He was also part of the officiating team for multiple World Juniors’ events in Toronto. He was also an active member in the NHL alumni events.
elevated UjC0E Peter enjoyed traveling almost as much as he enjoyed planning his trips. Over the years there were family vacations to Disney World, Scotland, Ireland, Venezuela, Australia and of course annual trips to the Moose Jaw family reunions. In retirement, he and Maureen took extended trips to Australia and New Zealand. They also loved to tow their A-Frame trailer around Canada, making it as far north as the Arctic Ocean in 2018. He was proud to have visited all of the Canadian provinces, the Yukon, NWT and a special trip with Alison to see the Northern Lights at Aurora Village (Yellowknife) in 2019.
elevated UjC0E He was a great fan of the Olympics and along with his brother Allen saw many events in Montreal 1976 and Vancouver 2010. The 1988 Calgary events were a little trickier but he managed it by rescheduling Alison’s 1st birthday.
elevated UjC0E He had a wonderful sense of humour and appreciated a good laugh. There are many favorite Peter Smeaton stories being shared today. He was a proud father and once dressed up in a Girl Guide uniform at his office to help Jessica reach top sales status in the cookie campaign.
elevated UjC0E Peter loved photography and always had at least one camera with him, sometimes two so he did not need to swap the lenses. His work scanning and organizing family pictures on his family picture website is a treasured legacy.
elevated UjC0E Peter and his family spent many summer days at the family cottage on Bird Lake. He was always involved in family events, taking photos and lighting the plum pudding on fire at Christmas each year. He loved to travel out west to see the Graham relatives and collect his Saskatoon pie payment for providing technical support.
elevated UjC0E Peter loved genealogy and spent many hours on his computer doing research and documenting his family tree. This resulted in friendships with distant relatives across the globe. The past year he collaborated with John Osborne of Carleton University as they completed a book on the photography of his great-granduncle Charles Smeaton.
elevated UjC0E Peter spent the Covid lockdown having daily skype chats with his grand-son Michael and grand-daughter Isabelle, canoeing on the Don River and in Algonquin Park, feeding the birds in his backyard, and tormenting the family cats.
elevated UjC0E He will be missed.
elevated UjC0E Those who wish to honour Peter may give an assist in his name to the Hockey Canada Assist Fund or make a donation to the Calgary Zoo.
elevated UjC0E Due to Covid19 restrictions, a memorial will be held at a later date.
elevated UjC0E
elevated UjC0E Family and Friends are invited to view the Funeral Mass on Friday May 7, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. Please click the link below.
elevated UjC0E
|
Sorry to hear of the passing of Peter. My condolences to the family.
🙏😓My prayers and thoughts are with you at this time. ❤️
As a friend and colleague at the NHL I had the pleasure of getting to know and work with Peter over the last 8 years. Now matter how early I arrived for a game Peter was already finished dinner and on his way up to his familiar perch in the gondola. It took me a while, but over the years I learned when Peter was busting your chops (Which he obviously loved to do) and when he was being serious. He was meticulous at his craft and no matter how involved he was always had an instinctive way of knowing when you might need his help. When we were outside the arena he always had a smile and when the stories came out everybody stopped to listen. Many a night when I was ready to leave he would start another story and have me sit back down. Though he loved to poke fun he was one of those who you could tell deep down was very caring. He was a sweet man and I will truly miss him!! I am proud to have called him a friend!
I have just learned with sadness of the passing of Peter. I had an enjoyable correspondence with him on the subject of our family link. We are fifth cousins twice removed, a fact which I calculated using Peter’s wonderful and detalled charts of his family history.
Any children of Peter’s will be my sixth cousins once removed, and any grandchildren will be my seventh cousins.
Condolences to the family, and best regards from Scotland.
The press box will not be the same. I had the privilege of working with Peter for 20 years, and can’t imagine reviewing scoring plays between periods without him. He will be deeply missed.
Maureen and the rest of the Smeaton families:
Deepest heartfelt condolences at this time.
C.Chapman
NHL Off-Ice Tor
My deepest condolences to the entire family.
He was an amazing person…and I have utmost respect for him.
It was my honour to work with him.
A great man that will be missed.
So sorry to learn of Peter’s passing!! Our condolences to Maureen and family.
Nora & Gene Gauthier
My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Smeaton family. Over the past 5 years I have had the the pleasure of getting to know Peter and I am honoured to be able to call him a friend. We spent many hours before Leaf games chatting about family and sharing pictures. He loved his family very much and adored his grandchildren. Although I have not had the pleasure of meeting Maureen and the rest of the family, through his pictures and stories, I feel like I know them. God bless you Peter. The games will never be the same and we will miss you dearly.
Our deepest sympathies to the family. Peter was a good friend and colleague for many years.
Rebecca will remember you every time there is a little thunder in the sky and she will know its you. 🙂
Rest in peace Peter.
Gone but never forgotten.
Michael & Rebecca
My condolences to the Smeaton family. Our prayers are with you all. Peter will be missed but never forgotten.
On behalf of our entire team at Hockey Canada we would like to extend our condolences to family and friends of Peter. I hope you are comforted knowing that his love of the game will live on through the generous donations made to the Hockey Canada Foundation. We believe that no Canadian child should have to sit in the stands. Peter’s legacy and your generosity will ensure that kids will have access to our great game. Sincere thanks!
Such sad news to lose our good friend Peter. We will miss him so much. Tony & Susan
So sorry to hear of Peter’s passing. I will never forget our golf games at Fundy National and Upper Canada Viiiage golf course. My prayers are with the Smeaton family. Rest In Peace, Peter.
My condolences to the family. Although I haven ‘t seen Peter for years l have fond memories of the times our families spent times together. As a child Peter loved playing pranks on Brenda and I when I went to Bird Lake. He will be missed.
His cousin Linda Thomassin Pellegrino
It is with a heavy heart I say good bye to my long, long (over 30 years) pal! My entire career as MLSE organist has created so many awesome lifetime friendships with people as Peter, Stu, Cameron, Bill, Chris, Les, “Joe(Zina egg)” … oh my so many kind and selfless friends! Peter and I spent a lot of this lockdown in shared Zoom chats with Paul Patskou! We will all sincerely miss him!
My deepest condolences to the entire family. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Peter was a wonderful man. He will surely be missed.
We are heartbroken to have lost our dear friend Peter, and our prayers go out to Maureen, Jessica, Alison and the family. He was so smart and so funny and loved so much by us all.
I was shocked and deeply saddened on learning of Peter’s sudden and tragic passing. My heartfelt condolences go out to Maureen, Alison, Jessica and all of Peter’s family.
As a member of the NHL Off-Ice Officials crew in Toronto, I had the good fortune to have Peter as a friend and colleague for over twenty years; it was a rewarding and memorable experience that I will never forget.
Peter’s wit and unique sense of humour kept our team in an upbeat mood, but when it came to performing his duties as Official Scorer, he was serious, resolute and adamant about the accuracy of his calls.
I enjoyed Peter’s camaraderie, not only during the games, but also while savouring a pre-game meal, and at the occasional post-game gathering; having him as a friend was truly an honour.
I will dearly miss Peter, but always cherish the memories.
My deepest condolences to Maureen and the entire family. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Maureen, so sorry to hear of Peter’s passing. Thinking about you and your family and sending hugs and prayers.
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to say goodbye to Peter Smeaton while he was a distant relative I truly enjoyed spending time with him. The only Hockey game I ever went to in Maple Leaf Gardens was when I was around 13 and visiting my grandparents he showed up and brought my brothers and I to the game. Our own Mr. Hockey ever since. I am thankful we reconnected over facebook a few years ago. I will miss his posts, the nature photography, the grandkids and the travels. He was a good man and will be missed. 20 years ago at my mother Shirley Hale-Sanders Nee Newman’s funeral we were discussing his interest in genealogy next thing I knew a family tree arrived in my mailbox. Kindness is not forgotten. My prayers and with you and your family, mom and sister.
This is such a shock .All our best wishes to you and your family.
We were shocked and heartbroken ,we are so sorry for your loss.
Deepest condolences to the Smeaton Family. I always enjoyed seeing him for over four decades around the hockey circles. Great person who always had a smile on his face and appreciated swapping stories and jokes. And believe me, I knew how dedicated he was in his role as official scorer, forever determined to get the stats quickly but above all, accurately. He knew that scribes like me depended on his efforts and that of his crew. May he rest in peace.
Dear Maureen and family,
So sorry of your loss of Peter. Although we haven’t seen Peter recently, it seems like yesterday when Peter picked up Jessica from our place and told us the good news that you had a new baby Alison! We had some good times with you and Peter, getting together with the Newcomer’s Club activities and kids’ play groups too. Condolences from Joe and Angie Raheb and family
I remember Peter fondly from St.Thomas High School football in Pte. Claire. Quebec
We had very good teams in the late 60’s, Peter played an important role in our success.
hello, i have just found peter’s obituary. i never met peter, but he was tremendously kind and generous to me in helping me research my alguire ancestors, and also sharing what he knew. i was just about to share more info with him, when i found this sad news. my sincere sympathy to you all. it sounds like he was a wonderful person, and you will all miss him greatly! i have been such a beneficiary of his special talents, and giving nature.
Having met Peter and Maureen on their trip back from the Arctic Ocean it was a exciting day for me as a fan of hockey to met an official of the game that was off ice! Paul Robitaille and I (Paul is a big Toronto fan and I called him over from work to met Peter) he talked about coming North again bf was saddened to hear of his passing
Dear Maureen and family, so saddened to hear of Peter’s passing. We were fortunate to have shared morning tea with you both when you were holidaying in Australia. My mother Frances was so pleased to meet her distant cousin on our family tree. To be able to share family history in person and not by mail to the other side of the globe was a kindred blessing. We thank you both for taking the time to visit us.