Tuesday, May 14, 2019
My Eulogy for Harry
My name is Tom Smith and Harry Southworth has been a longtime friend of mine. We all have
lifetime friends, but Old Blue Eyes and I had a Friendship of a Lifetime.
It all began back in the late -1960s. I was working for IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY and Harry was
employed by IBM Toronto in Don Mills. The IBM Corporation decided to transfer one of their
products manufactured in NY to its Plant in Ontario. The strategic plan was based on having a
smooth workload transition over a period of a few years. I was chosen to be Poughkeepsies
Project Manager for that transfer.
The first week on the job, I got a phone call from a man named Harry, who said. Im the
Canadian Transfer Manager and I hear that we are going to be working together, EH!. Thats
how it all started.
Harry, Lilly, Deb, and Wendy moved to an apartment in the Mid-Hudson Valley for the duration
of the project. Thats when I discovered Harry and I had the same mind set and how compatible
we were.
While in NY I invited Harry into my social life where he got familiar with my friends and activities.
He joined my Volleyball team, got a chance to experience Off Road Motorcycling, fly in a Hot air
Balloon, plus other after work activities.
Upon returning to Canada, the friendship continued and the Smiths, made many vacation trips
to Don Mills, a self-made camp somewhere in suburban Apsley, and other far off places.
One of the trips that is deeply ingrained in my hippocampus is a summer trip to Canada in July
of 1984, when my wife Phyllis, my son Brian and I schlepped my Hot Air balloon to Keswick for
a week. Our First flight was launched from the Southworths North 40 with Me as Pilot and
Harry as the sole passenger. 20 minutes into a 1 hour flight, Harrys knees began to quiver, It
was because in our direct flight path was Ontarios largest Lake Simco, 16 x 18 miles. Harry
DEMANDED that I land before that potential experience. Coming toward the Village of Sutton
provided few open fields but to our good fortune, I found our last option. It was a pin point
landing on a narrow strip right on the shoreline of the towns sandy beach. We made it safely
and we both lived happily ever after.
That kind of synergy kept us going for years. There were many random visits for each of us in
places like Lakeland, FL, Douglas NB, New Market ON.
Both Harry and I had the same joie de vivre, I know that Harry has made a significant positive
part of my life. I would assume that through his life, his positive and joyful attitude had
generated that same kind of relationship with many others.
Harry, RIP
