Edited transcriptions from page 1 of 29 Nov 1951 Simcoe Reformer 

Missionary 33 Years,
Dr. R. E. Smith dies

A Baptist missionary to India for 33 years, Rev. Ralph E. Smith, B.A., B.Th., D.D., 56 Norfolk Street North, Simcoe, died in Norfolk General Hospital on Friday, following a short illness. He was in his 75th year.

Son of the late Dr. Arthur W. Smith and Ellen Hayne, Dr. Smith was born in Woodhouse Township and received his early education in Simcoe Public and High Schools.

On 10 Jan 1892, he was baptized and became a member of First Baptist Church in Simcoe, and toward the end of 1893, when only 16 years of age, decided to become a foreign missionary.

He entered McMaster University in October, 1896, and was a member of the Century Class, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1900. In 1903 he received the degree of Bachelor of Theology and was ordained.

Dr. Smith was appointed a missionary by the Foreign Mission Board of the Baptist Convention on Ontario and Quebec and was sent to India in Sep 1903. He was posted to Cocanada and when the South Cocanada Field was formed in 1906, he became its first missionary.

In Jan 1906, the Telegu Church was organized, and the beautiful Jaganaikpur church, built in [year], was dedicated in 1906. 

He was given a furlough during 1911 and 1912 and then returned to take charge of the Cocanada Field until Oct 1915. For 10 years he edited the Ravi weekly newspaper.

On 30 Sep 1915 he received his commission in the Indian Army, trained with the Yorkshire Regiment at Rawaipindi and was posted to the 30th Infantry Regiment, which he joined at Colombo, Ceylon. 

He later was recalled to Rawalpindi for training in transport duties and was placed on duty at Rawalpindi and Sialkot for six months.

He then joined the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force and left for Mesopotamia (Iraq) on 21 Jul 1916, being present at the capture of Kut-el-Amara and the crossing of the Tigris in Feb 1917, and at the capture of Baghdad the following month. 

He continued to serve with the MEF until the Armistice in Nov 1919, and with the army in Mesopotamia until 1920, when the Arab uprising took place. He served through that campaign and was present at the capture of Deltawah and the relief of Kufa. 

Leaving Mesopotamia in Sep 1921, he was discharged from the Army in Jun 1923. He had risen to the rank of Captain and had thrice been mentioned in dispatches.

Coming home on furlough in 1923, he was in Simcoe for the next five years, two of which he served as editor of the Simcoe Reformer, also three years as president of the Canadian Club.

On 17 Sep 1924 he married the former Mildred Helen Johnson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Johnson, Simcoe.

Returned to India as a missionary in 1927, he was posted to Vizagapatam, which continued to be his field of labor until Jan 1941. 

During this period he organized four new Telegu churches, built two new church buildings and two parsonages. 

He also rebuilt the Canadian Baptist Mission High School at Vizagapatam, where he was manager of the school for 11 years, during which time the enrolment of pupils rose to nearly 1,000.

On retirement in 1941, he returned to Canada, after which he served as editor of The Reformer for two and one-half years, retiring in Mar 1944. 

At convocation of McMaster University in May 1945, he was granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was an honorary deacon of First Baptist Church.

Dr. Smith was a past president of the Norfolk Historical Society and the Norfolk Tuberculosis Association.

Surviving besides his wife are three sons, Arthur James Ralph Smith of New York, Lawrence Austin Hayne Smith, Oxford, England, and David Chadwick Smith at McMaster University, Hamilton; also two brothers, Dr. Percy Smith and Leslie Smith, both of Toronto.

Dr. Smith rested at the George W. Baldock Funeral Home and service was conducted in First Baptist Church this afternoon at 2.30 p.m. The minister, Rev. Dana H. Lamb, officiated, assisted by Dr. J. B. McLaurin [sic], General Secretary of the Canadian Baptist Foreign Mission Board. Interment was in Oakwood Cemetery.
 

Captain Smith
circa 1924

Edited transcript from page 1 of 29 Nov 1951 Simcoe Reformer of an article written by Bruce M. Pearce  

Dr. Ralph E. Smith
(Tribute by B.M.P)

The death of Dr. Ralph E. Smith is a great loss to this community and to the Baptist denomination, both of which he served so faithfully and brilliantly during a long and distinguished career.

As a missionary to India over a period of 33 years, as an officer in His Majesty's Indian Army during the First World War, as a newspaper editor and as a community leader, he gave most unselfishly of his exceptional talents to the advancement of his denomination, his country and his native county.

His service on the mission fields of India, to which he gave the best years of his life, naturally rank first in any estimate of Dr. Smith's career. 

His fine traits of character and his unremitting zeal in carrying the message of Christianity to the people of India earned for him the warmest regard and appreciation of his associates in the Baptist denomination. 

One recognition of his service was found in the bestowal of the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity upon Dr. Smith in 1944 by his alma mater, McMaster University. 

A gifted and impressive speaker, his services in the pulpit were frequently sought and freely given by Dr. Smith to church audiences in many parts of Ontario.

A native of Norfolk County, Captain Smith, as he was familiarly known to his host of friends in this community, was always keenly interested in the welfare and advancement of his home county, giving generously of his time and ability to furthering its cultural and material development.

A talented and trenchant writer, Captain Smith had enjoyed editorial and publication experience in India. 

When the opportunity offered on two different occasions during his years in Simcoe, he accepted the post of editor of The Simcoe Reformer, discharging the responsibilities of that office with great benefit to this newspaper and to the community for a total period of about four years.

Two community organizations in which Captain Smith was most keenly and actively interested were the Simcoe Canadian Club and the Norfolk Historical Society. 

One of the Canadian Club founders back in the twenties, he served several terms as president and brought many outstanding public speakers to Simcoe.

At the time of his death he was immediate past president of the Historical Society, having served four years as chief executive of that organization. 

He was largely responsible for raising the funds required to purchase the famous collection of Cantelon historical paintings which now form the most prized possession of our museum.

In many other tangible ways he contributed to the preservation of Norfolk's historical past.

Truly a life of achievement ends with the passing of Dr. Ralph Smith. As missionary, soldier, patriot, writer and speaker, he has left a rich legacy to the Baptist denomination and to his nation and his community.

Those of us who knew Captain Smith intimately will greatly miss his warm friendliness and his kindly, inspiring personality, as well as the great fund of knowledge and experience upon which he was ever ready to draw of the benefit of his fellow man.

To Mrs. Smith and three fine sons will go the sincere sympathy of the entire community in the grievous loss which they have sustained in the passing of a revered husband and father.

Dr. R. E. Smith

 
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