Patricia Angela Smith
The Funeral Mass has been rescheduled to a later date.
Patricia was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in a United States Air Force family having profoundly special memories of the different locales she, her mom, and dad were stationed. As a little girl in St. Petersburg, Florida, she learned to swim with her father, Dow. Her family holds dear the black and white photo of Pat in her white swimsuit, barely five years old, smiling effusively in the waves. She loved Hawaii, its natural beauty, and visiting all the islands. In Naples, Italy, she picked up Italian so quickly that naturally—as was the customary pattern for the rest of her life—Pat had a group of close girlfriends with days filled with laughter and countless little adventures. In Naples, she remembered the joys of hanging out after school at the city beach, going to the pizza parlor and gelateria, and taking the funicular railway up the hill back home, always having a few goodies from the market. When stationed in Europe, during Christmases, they would visit Germany and the holiday markets which were one of Pat’s favorite memories. Perhaps her most beloved home was in Lincoln, Nebraska where Pat graduated from high school and then attended the University of Nebraska, becoming a lifelong and fervent Cornhuskers fan! The night Pat went home to Christ, she was watching her Cornhuskers play, just like she did for over 50 years, with her parents Dow and Margie, with her husband, John, and with her children, Scott and Caitlin.
Her father’s last station before retirement was in San Antonio Texas, and this became Pat’s cherished home for most of her life, and the place where she finally felt her roots. She loved Mexican food, margaritas, girls’ weekends with her friends, and was especially happy at Scribner’s Tea Room for a long day of shopping and brunch. She was especially proud of her home, designing it with her husband, John, and experiencing the process of it being built from the ground floor.
She met her husband, Captain John Hamilton Smith, while he was stationed in Texas, and they were married at Randolph Airforce Base and together for over 50 years. Pat and John welcomed two children, Scott Matthew and Caitlin Lee, and they became active parents volunteering at St. George Episcopal School and their Church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, as well as attending countless sports events, music recitals, and school activities.
Patricia was a schoolteacher and received her master’s degree in counseling. She was a dedicated and phenomenal Special Education Counselor for the Northeast Independent School District. Her care and devotion to her students was tireless. Pat was given high commendations and several District awards for her service.
Pat’s circle of friends was lifelong and built on the deepest of foundations. Faith was an important component of Pat’s life, and her close friendships were marked by shared joy, a love of life, and closeness to God. A few nights before Pat went to Our Lord, she enjoyed hearing from her friends who were her circle of faith and light, and they prayed with her and even sang some Christian songs together. Pat’s favorite song was “Jesus Loves Me This I Know,” a song she also sang with her students. Pat had a beautiful voice, something her husband John loved about her. He always asked Pat to sing “Danny Boy.”
“But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying, If I am dead, as dead I well may be, you’ll come and find the place where I am lying, and kneel and say an Ave there for me.”
Pat’s family would like to give special thanks to her longtime friends Letheia Hart, Stephanie Bostic, Lynn Lavelle, Dale Dorsey, Kay Jinks, Becky Bryant, and Francis Hall. The family is grateful for the friendship, love, and care she received from Darlene and Aimee Storey, as well as the abundant love and compassion given by Wanda and Christine Willis. Pat’s family would also like to recognize Ramona Fine, her amazing and exceptional nurse, whose compassionate care made Pat’s final months so much better, Becky Silvia, and the whole Gentiva Hospice Care team.
Mrs. Patricia Smith died peacefully and without pain having lived a full life and having felt the love and prayers of her family and friends, as well as a visit from her parish priest.
Pat is survived by her loving family, her children, Scott Smith and Caitlin Gilson, her son-in-law Frederick, her two sisters-in-law, Nancy & Jackie, brother-in-law, Ralph, and her grandchildren, Aiden, who will miss his special “Buma,” and Mary and Lily who are set to graduate college this May.
Pat looked forward to being welcomed into Heaven by those who preceded her—her husband John, her mother, Mary Marjorie, and her father, Dow, and most especially by her beloved granddaughter, Daisi, who filled her heart and was never far from her daily thoughts.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Catholic Charities of South Mississippi https://catholiccharitiesofsouthms.org/
“O Regina, here, after the long road/ Before taking to that path again / The only asylum in the hollow of your hand/ And the garden where the soul opens up./ Here the pillar and the vault rising up;/ And the oblivion of yesterday, and the oblivion of tomorrow / And the futility of human calculations;/ And more so than sin, wisdom in ruins./ Here the place in the world where everything becomes easy, / The regret, the start and also the event / And the temporary farewell and the separation / The one corner of the earth where everything is made docile . . . So much has been said, O Queen of the Apostles / We have lost the taste for discourse / We have no more altars but yours / We know nothing but a simple prayer. / O Queen, it is here that every soul comes/ Like a young warrior fallen by the wayside.”
—Charles Péguy, La Tapisserie de Notre-Dame