It is with profound sadness that the family of Harold (Whitey) Smale and Kathryn Smale (nee Hamilton, Misener) of Bala, Ontario, announce their sudden passing due to a single car accident on Monday August 12, 2024. Whitey was 92, Kathy was 85. Whitey and Kathy will be fondly remembered by Kathy’s children David Misener (Elizabeth Kirwin Misener) and Jocelyn Denomme (Allan Polk); grandchildren: Kate Denomme, Charlotte Denomme, Ethan Misener and Spencer Misener; Kathy’s brother, Bob Hamilton (Marge) and Suzanne Selby (Craig); Whitey Smale’s Brother Bill Smale (Joan) as well as numerous other relatives and friends. Kathy was predeceased by her first husband Barton Misener (Bart), father to Jocelyn and David. Now on to the love story. Kathy was a school teacher in Galt (Cambridge) who taught until the birth of her children. Bart, her first husband and a dentist from Guelph, passed away in 1990 due to a brain tumor after a long happy 25-year marriage. Whitey, also a dentist from Guelph, was a good friend to Bart and Kathy, although Kathy was less enthused during this time, by Whitey, as he and Bart spent hours together in the shop working on various projects and other shenanigans. When Bart became ill, it was Whitey who stepped up and drove Kathy and Bart to treatments and surgeries in Toronto and included a final trip he took Bart on a wooden boat trip in Florida shortly before his death from brain cancer. As Kathy was healing from the loss of her husband, she gained a new appreciation of Whitey as he cared for Bart deeply as both a friend and a caregiver. Whitey was impressed with Kathy as she cared for and mourned the loss of Bart. This gradually turned into a mutual realization that love was in the air for both. They married in 1992 and embarked on a fulfilled life together enjoying classic antique boats, building, and furnishing dollhouses together as hobby and later in their years a passion for antique cars. They died together doing what they loved, after 32 years of marriage on an antique car trip in Southwestern Ontario. A small private celebration of life will be held later in August. They both have been cremated and will be laid to rest beside Bart in Fergus, Ontario. Memorial donations can be made for both to the Charcot Marie Tooth Association. The family has chosen this charity as mom lived her best life with this disease and Whitey was an exceptional caregiver to her over the years, especially as her mobility declined later in life. The family wishes to acknowledge their friend Wayne and Lynda McDermid of Sault Ste. Marie who were fellow antique car enthusiasts and first on the accident scene, as well as Owen Sound paramedics, OPP, Owen Sound Hospital and to London Health Sciences Regional Trauma Centre who all provided excellent care not only to Whitey and Kathy but also care and compassion to their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. Rest easy and fly high both. These birds of a feather stuck together and that they did as they left this world. We deeply loved them and will miss them dearly. Cremation arrangements entrusted to Cottage Country Cremation Inc. (55 Ann St. Bracebridge, ON.) https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/donor-form/?svcid=tcs&formId=85ff440e-fafc-4f40-bd3d-0e4c1dd304af&envid=p-PChE3yhhCEi2IG6mB_3bZQ&zone=usa
