Bernard Smith

“Our memories build a special bridge and bring us peace of mind.”

Bernard passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on 17th August, aged 76 years.

The beloved husband of Jenny. Much loved dad of Nick, Rob and Chris. Also a cherished grandad, brother and good friend.

A service to celebrate Bernard’s life will take place on Friday 26th August at 1.45pm in the Crematorium Chapel in Crewe, followed by cremation.

Donations in memory of Bernard will be gratefully received on behalf of Prostate Cancer and MacMillan.

For further information please contact our funeral home on 01270 584447.

Bernard was an amazing dad to Nick, Rob and Chris, and immensely fond of Nick’s partner Sarra, Rob’s wife Brie and Chris’s former partner Kim.

He had always been a doting and hands on grandad to Aidan, Ellie, Alex, Luca and Charlie – especially loved taking them on train trips and always a marvel at getting them to sleep.

Bernard was much loved by his brothers Steve, Mike and Tony and their younger sister Pat, a dear brother-in-law, uncle and great uncle.  The Latham’s and the Smiths have always been extremely close and with Bernard, as a reliable organiser, assisted by Jen, on any given date, time and location, the two families shared many happy occasions together.

Bernard was an incredibly popular man, well liked and respected by all who had the pleasure of knowing him

Remembering Bernard:

13th July 1946, welcomed into the world by Arthur and Eileen in Harlesden London NW10, Bernard was always immensely proud of being born in the capital.  His dad was a proud railway man who worked in the control office at Euston and was offered a transfer to Crewe.  Not knowing if it would be permanent, Arthur came up to Crewe with Bernard leaving Eileen in London because she was pregnant with Pat and the two older boys were settled in school.  Friends offered Arthur a place to stay and they were kind enough to provide childcare so he could go to work.  As everything worked out well with Arthur’s job, twelve months later in September 1949, Eileen and the family relocated to their new home on Nantwich Road.

Bernard attended St Mary’s School and his report said, “Bernard would do very well if he stopped being the joker in class” – or words to that effect!”  At the back of their house, a disused tennis court formerly used by the convent provided an ideal playground for all the kids in the area.  Bernard was out from morning til dusk but as soon as his mum shouted him in for tea, half the playground emptied.

Bernard’s mum was from a huge Irish family in County Kerry, although many were living in London and dad was from just outside Prestatyn, so family holidays were often divided between Ireland and North Wales and ironically Jen also spent many family holidays in Prestatyn but neither of them ever recall bumping into each other.

Bernard left school at fourteen and although he wanted a career on the railway like his dad, he had to wait until he was sixteen to sit his entrance exam – in the meantime, Bernard found work at R.E.D, electrical wholesalers.

Eventually he followed his dad’s footsteps into the control room at Crewe then at the tender age of twenty-one, he gained promotion into the control room at Euston and found digs in Wembley.

He had just moved into the offices in Waterloo working more regular hours when he visited home and was introduced to Jen through mutual friends.  They got engaged in March 1972 by which time Bernard had transferred to Paddington Station.

With such a distance between them, Jen decided to move to London, and she also managed to get a job at Paddington in the civil engineer’s office.

Just over a year later, they married and moved into a flat in Ealing for twelve months then moved to Didcot for three years where they had Nick and Rob.  After Bernard went back into the control office at Euston, the family moved to Leighton Buzzard where Chris was born.  They settled in Bedfordshire for seven years until the control office closed in Euston and the headquarters were moved to Crewe.  So full circle, back to Cheshire and to their forever home at Murrayfield Drive.

In 1998, the railway headquarters were relocated to Doncaster so having reached the pinnacle of his career, totally settled and happy in Crewe and an age where he could step back, Bernard accepted redundancy like many of his colleagues but never one to sit on the sidelines, he returned to the railway in a consultancy role for around five years during which time he and Jen enjoyed three fantastic trips to New Zealand to see Pat.

Returning home after the last visit in 2005, Mike had got a new job and offered Bernard a job share delivering car parts to garages around Cheshire.  Bernard continued for around six years until he finally became an OAP at the age of sixty-five.

Enjoying retirement, Bernard and Jen travelled extensively but after celebrating Jen’s birthday in California, they developed a passion for America, particularly Las Vegas.

Bernard had a lifelong passion for football, he supported Man U but was a committed, Crewe Alex fan, a season ticket holder once he stopped travelling for work.  A friend’s little boy once said “Bernard, you’ve just clapped the other team’s goal!” and Bernard replied, “aways appreciate a good goal lad!”

He was well known for having a radio with him at every match, keeping everyone up to date with news and football results – wired for sound, he had it with him on all occasions including weddings and very often got told off for distracting all the guests!

Bernard was charming, funny, well liked and respected by all who had the pleasure of knowing him, the chapel was full and many people had travelled from all over the country to pay their last respects.