Raymond Smillie
Encyclopedia
Ray Lewis Nelson Smillie (born January 18, 1904, date of death April 21, 1993) was a Canadian
boxer
who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics
where he won the bronze medal in the welterweight class after winning the third place match against Robert Galataud.
Ray came from an athletic family. As a member of the Toronto YMCA he was an avid gymnast, competing in the high bar, pammel horse and tumbling events. As part of the Argonaut's junior rowing team he held the bow position. And in 1919 he won the gold medal in the Ontario Swimming Championships in the twenty yard sprint. He also played football, tennis and golf. Ray's next endeavour into sports was a very successful career in boxing. In 1925, his first competitive year, he won the Ontario Championships and then advanced to the National Championships where he again won gold.
His accomplishments include:
Ray was born in Toronto, Ontario to Sara Louise Winter and William Nelson Smillie. His younger brother Donald was also an athlete and played professional hockey for the St. Louis Rangers. He adored his younger sister Phyllis who was athletic and adventurous like her brothers.
He married Christina Fraser Carruthers in 1930. They had three children: John Donald Ray Smillie born in 1932 and twin girls, Caryl Margaret and Patricia Jean born in 1935.
Ray died in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario in 1993. He has six grandchildren from his son John who married Merrilou Paquette in 1955: June Louise; Phyliss Jean; Susan Nancy; Janet Shirley; Christine Alice; and Catherine Margaret Smillie. His daughter Caryl married Alvin Oja. They had four children, Eric, Mark, Marja-Liisa, and Stephanie. His daughter Pat married Gordon Wilson, they had three daughters, Karen, Colleen and Heather.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
where he won the bronze medal in the welterweight class after winning the third place match against Robert Galataud.
Ray came from an athletic family. As a member of the Toronto YMCA he was an avid gymnast, competing in the high bar, pammel horse and tumbling events. As part of the Argonaut's junior rowing team he held the bow position. And in 1919 he won the gold medal in the Ontario Swimming Championships in the twenty yard sprint. He also played football, tennis and golf. Ray's next endeavour into sports was a very successful career in boxing. In 1925, his first competitive year, he won the Ontario Championships and then advanced to the National Championships where he again won gold.
His accomplishments include:
- 1925 Canadian Amateur Welterweight Boxing Champion
- Silver Medalist Pan-American match Boston Lion's Club Cup
- 1927 New England and Ontario Title
- 1928 Olympic trials in Montreal - qualified for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- 1928 Olympic Bronze Medalist Amsterdam Olympics
- Refereed over 2,000 fights throughout the 1930's
- Lieutenant Officer Canadian Navy, World War Two
- Founder of Sault Ste. Marie Naval Vets
Ray was born in Toronto, Ontario to Sara Louise Winter and William Nelson Smillie. His younger brother Donald was also an athlete and played professional hockey for the St. Louis Rangers. He adored his younger sister Phyllis who was athletic and adventurous like her brothers.
He married Christina Fraser Carruthers in 1930. They had three children: John Donald Ray Smillie born in 1932 and twin girls, Caryl Margaret and Patricia Jean born in 1935.
Ray died in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario in 1993. He has six grandchildren from his son John who married Merrilou Paquette in 1955: June Louise; Phyliss Jean; Susan Nancy; Janet Shirley; Christine Alice; and Catherine Margaret Smillie. His daughter Caryl married Alvin Oja. They had four children, Eric, Mark, Marja-Liisa, and Stephanie. His daughter Pat married Gordon Wilson, they had three daughters, Karen, Colleen and Heather.