Nassau, Bahamas - We are sorry to record the death of a faithful supporter of the Bahamas Historical Society.

Claude Elbert Merton Smith was born on August 3 , 1923 in Driggs Hill, Andro s to Albert Edgar Augustus Smith and Luc y Tempest Knowles Smith . Twel v e children we are born to the family, four of whom died as infants . The surviving children were Mildred, Gordon, Freeman , LuReno, Claude, Lilla, Hugo and Eric .

Claude was still young when the family moved to Nassau , where his father Albert established his sponge business . They settled in their home on Queen's Street, now the site of the US Embas sy , which became the nucleus of the Smith Famil y .

Claude attended Queen's College in Nassau and excelled in his studies. He was a deadly rival and became lifelong friends of classmates Paul Albury and Joan (Brown) Albury.

Soon after graduating from high school, he signed up w ith the Royal Air Force and trained as a navigator in Britain. Claude attended Bango r Universit y, where he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture , h e then did post-graduate studies at Cambridge Universit y in England.

He  worked as an agronomist with the Su ga r Indu s tr y Research Institute in Mandeville, Jamaica . In the mid-1960's he accepted an offer to return to The Bahamas to head t he research department of the Owens Illinois sugar factory in Abaco.

He relocated to Nassau to serve for many years as the Director of Agricultu re for the Bahamian Go v ernment. Under Claude Smith ' s direction The Bahamas saw the introduction of produce exchanges, packing houses, the Gladstone Road Agricultural Centre, the Bahamas Agricultural Research, Training and Development (BARTAD) project in North Andros, and v ery importantl y the purposeful development of cooperatives for the industry:'

He resigned from the Ministry of Agriculture and went on to establish his own landscaping and agriculture firm to which he devoted long hours until his health began to fail in the mid-2000's.

Over the years Claude was active in several civic organizations. In Jamaica, he was a member of the Scottish Rite Masonic Order and the Veterans' Association. He was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Nassau and was made a Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary ' s highest honour . He was a lifelong member of the Anglican Church and served for many years as a lay reader and chalice bearer at Holy Cross Parish.

Claude passed away on Friday, February 4, 2011 after a long illness .

He is survived by his wife Patricia, son Basil Smith, daughter Sandra Smith-Blair, stepdaughters Rosine Moutardier and Anne Masotti (Luca), siblings Hugo Smith in the United Kingdom, LuReno Iohannson (Axel) in Zavella, Texas; Eric Smith (Netty) in Nassau; grandchildren Tsehai Scott, Miles Smith, Tiffany Smith and Heather Moutardier and his great-grandchildren Skye, Alem, Selah, Lij, Haile and Tau and many nieces, nephews and cousins in the Smith, Knowles, Scott and Johannson families as well as other relatives, friends and associates in Jamaica and The Bahamas .

(Edited excerpt from the Programme: Mass of Thanksgiving for the life of Claude Elbert Merton Smith)

As a footnote to the tributes we pay to our deceased members, I have increasingly been made aware of what is learned from them. The genealogists find relatives and connections in the Bahamas and abroad; we learn about our past society and its institutions. For example, from the tribute to Claude, we add to our war heroes; the organizations they belong to and the achievements they made.

  Darius Williams will speak on Thursday 24^th February at 6pm

on The Church History of St Stevens Parish, highlighting Grand Bahama

The Bahamas Historical Society (BHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to stimulating interest in Bahamian History and to the collection and preservation of material relating thereto. Its Headquarters, the former IODE Hall, was a gift from the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE). BHS is on Shirley Street and Elizabeth Avenue in Nassau. www.bahamashistoricalsociety. com