JEAN PATRICIA SMELLIE

Jean Smellie died in Winnipeg on Thursday, June 10, 2021, at the age of 92. A longtime resident of Armstrong’s Point, Jean was actively engaged in Winnipeg’s cultural scene, patronizing the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Manitoba Opera and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Jean was a fine stage actor herself; under the name Jean McIntyre she appeared at the MTC, Rainbow Stage, the Edmonton Studio Theatre, and in film and television, achieving the status of Life Member of ACTRA. She also acted in French at Collège St.-Jean in Edmonton. For many years she served as President of the Winnipeg Women’s Musical Club, and was active in the Winnipeg University Women’s Club. She sat on the Senate of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, following the death of her husband, the Honorable Robert G. Smellie, who had served as Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment.

Jean was born Jean Patricia Stallwood to William and Ethel Stallwood (Bird) in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK, north of London. She was the oldest of their three children, with two younger brothers, John and Peter.

Jean attended school at Christ’s Hospital, Hertford, and then trained as a speech pathologist at the Central School of Speech and Dramatic Arts in London, graduating with the degree L.C.S.T., London. It was in London that she met her first husband, Alan Clarke, and together they had two children.

Jean immigrated to Canada in 1955, crossing the Atlantic by steamer and landing at Halifax, then travelling across the country by train, toting her two small children, toddler Paul and infant Penny, to Edmonton, where Alan had been posted with the RCAF. As a trained Speech Pathologist Jean set up the first speech clinic at the University of Alberta Hospital. She taught in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, while completing her Master of Education degree, M.Ed. She moved to Winnipeg in 1980 when she married Bob Smellie.

Jean was a prominent and sought-after adjudicator at music and arts festivals in Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan, in both French and English, conducting many workshops with children at these festivals. She was a gifted narrator, performing with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in a special fund-raising concert for the victims of the Aberfan disaster in Wales, and in the Lakehead University Lumina Concert series in Thunder Bay.

Jean lived her life with flair and elegance, always with a great sense of the dramatic. In all her many roles in life, Jean maintained close ties with her extensive list of dear friends, always willing to open her home to simple dinners or grand parties where she herself was both gracious hostess and acknowledged masterful chef.

Jean was predeceased by her first husband Alan Clarke, her second husband Dr. John McIntyre, and her third husband Robert (Bob) Smellie, and by her only son Paul in 1974. She was also predeceased by her younger brother John Stallwood in the UK.

She is survived by her daughter Penelope Clarke (Paul Inksetter) of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Jean is also survived by her youngest brother Peter Stallwood of UK, and numerous nieces and nephews and grandnieces and nephews there, as well as by her stepdaughter Carol Gamby (George) and six stepgrandchildren and two stepgreatgrandchildren.

Cremation has taken place, and a celebration and remembrance of Jean’s life will be scheduled in Winnipeg at a later date. In memoriam donations may be made to any of the cultural agencies listed above, to the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, or to Jean’s favourite charity – Operation Smile.

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