ALMOST 300 mourners attended the funeral of Jack Smith – Fishupdate.com

ALMOST 300 mourners attended the funeral of Jack Smith Published:  27 October, 2008

It was standing room only at the funeral of one of Grimsby’s leading fish merchants and former director of the local FMA, who died recently aged 80. The funeral at the parish church in his home village of Humberston, near Grimsby was for one of the best liked and most popular figures on Grimsby Fish Docks.

Mr Smith had been in the trade all his working life and started on the docks at a time when fish supplies were strictly government controlled and rationed. In the early 1950s he joined a national company of fish merchants called Coast Supply which had branches at fishing ports throughout the UK.

He remained with Coast Supply for many years when he was invited to join the Grimsby fish merchants business of J.W. Moore which sells cod, haddock and many other varieties of seafood to outlets in London and the Home Counties, which he eventually bought from the previous owner.. The business will now continue under the management of his two sons, Andrew and Richard Smith.

Although very much a traditional fish merchant, he always embraced change and development. He was a director of the Fish Merchants association for many years and helped guide the organisation through some difficult periods.

FMA chief executive Steve Norton said: ‘Jack was a truly a gentleman fish merchant with a deep sense of fair play and straight dealing. He was a great believer in the fish trade and always had its interests at heart.

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