It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Maureen Olivia Love-Smid. Maureen was a devoted wife of 43 years to Jack Smid, a loving mother to her daughters, Cassie (Gary) and Jacqueline (Josh), and a dear “Grammie” to Drew, Lynnlee, Jack and Jude. Sister to David and Norah Love and aunt to many nieces and nephews on both the Love and Smid sides of the family. She was predeceased by her parents, John “Jack” and Mary Love (née Miller) and her brother, Jamie (Jim) Love.

Maureen loved her family and they will forever cherish the feeling of “home” she created for them across the years and locations. Always putting others first, especially her daughters, Maureen left any professional aspirations behind to focus on raising Cassie and Jacqueline. With great fondness they look back on the happy childhood she gave them - days filled with outdoor play, crafting and delicious family dinners around the kitchen table, hand-made Halloween costumes, special birthday celebrations and holiday traditions, plus many memorable family trips and adventures. As they became adults and mothers themselves, Maureen was always there to support her daughters and enjoyed any opportunity to spend time with her girls.

Maureen was born September 2, 1955 in St. Catharines, Ontario, the youngest of Jack and Mary Love’s four children. She attended Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School and studied at Fanshaw College. As a young professional working at Kimberly Clark, she met Jack at the company’s national curling bonspiel (they continued to curl together into the early years of their marriage) and for the next three years they dated long-distance, traveling back and forth between Jack’s paper mill assignments in northern Ontario and Maureen’s home in St. Catharines. In 1982 they were wed in St. Catharines and began their married life together in Kapuskasing, ON.

Shortly thereafter, they moved to Mississauga, ON and started their family. First came Cassie and then, two years later, Jacqueline completed the foursome. In 1990, the family relocated to Fonthill, ON. Maureen joined the Newcomer Club and remained an active member for years. This was a busy season of life for Maureen with two school-aged children and all the activities, play dates and volunteering that go along with that. So many core family memories for Jack and the girls are rooted in the home and life she created for them there.

1997 brought another relocation for the family, this time across the border down to Cumming, GA. Although Maureen would always hold a special place in her heart for Canada and the Niagara Peninsula, she embraced this new chapter and once again went about setting up a home and new rhythm of life for her family. Despite the challenges that came with two girls navigating high school and Jack’s position requiring more and more travel, Maureen was able to find some time to join the local Newcomer’s Club chapter and the neighborhood Bunco group where she made many friends.

In 2015 she became a Grandmother and, over the years, supported her daughters through their transitions into motherhood and exhibited just as much selfless love in her role as “Grammie” as she did while raising Cassie and Jacqueline. In 2017, Jack and Maureen relocated to Summerville, SC to be closer to their daughters’ families. Maureen once again established a new home but had much more time to pursue connections and leisure activities for herself. She loved coordinating monthly “cement socials” with their close friends and was active in many neighborhood groups like Wine Club, Billiards, Bunco, and Book Club. She also enjoyed the perks of being close to her children and grandchildren, hosting family dinners, spending time at the pool, watching baseball games and ballet recitals.

Although Maureen may no longer be with us, her love, devotion to family, humor, curiosity and spunk will be forever reflected in those she left behind. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her, most especially her family.

A memorial service will be held at a later date at the Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston, SC. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. West Ashley Chapel.

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