Business executive.
Born at Russell on 14 December 1898, son of Albert Gale Parker Smellie and Catherine Eliza Hogg (1866-1949), during the First World War he served in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and was wounded at Ypres. Returning from military duty, he joined his father’s company and rose to the position of manager at Smellie Brothers, which operated five creameries in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and a general store at Russell. He served as President of the Manitoba Dairy Association, Manitoba Dairy Manufacturers’ Association, and Dairy Council of Canada (1946-1947). The firm was sold in 1960 after which he partnered with James Alexander Burgess in Russell Agencies, from which he retired in 1973 and moved to Winnipeg. In 1948, he was appointed Chairman of the Manitoba Power Commission and served until 1961. On 5 September 1938, he married Mary Louise Wealleans (1910-1983) at Brandon. They had a son, Donald Smellie. He died at Winnipeg on 13 February 1975 and was buried in the Russell Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Smellie House (414 Memorial Avenue, Russell, Municipality of Russell-Binscarth)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Smellie Brothers Company Store (300 Main Street, Russell)
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage registration [Robert Charles Smellie, Mary Louise Wealleans], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“R. C. Smellie heads Power Commission,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 February 1948, page 3.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 17 February 1975, page 37.
Obituary [Mary Louisa Smellie], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 October 1983, page 58.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 10 February 2023
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