In Memoriam - Sister Sister Margaret Ann (Peggy) Smith

Margaret Ann Smith was born to Patrick Joseph Smith and Mary Theresa McGuire on November 15, 1935, in Manhattan, New York. Her parents were from County Longford, Ireland and Woodford, County Galway, respectively.

Preceded by a sister, Mary, she was baptized at St. Gregory Church, and entered Annunciation School in September 1940, where she was taught by the  Religious of the Sacred Heart. First Holy Communion followed on March 25, 1941, and Confirmation by Bishop McIntyre in May 1945. During grade school, Peggy competed in Irish step-dancing at the Fordham Feises. She must have been charming in her green and gold satin costume embroidered with Irish symbols.

Peggy wrote in her autobiography that in fifth grade she was dressed in the habit of the RSCJ’s, and “from that day to this, I have had the desire to enter the convent.” So, after eighth-grade graduation, she entered the SSND Aspiranture in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in September 1949, and graduated from high school there in 1953. 

On August 28, Peggy received the Candidate’s bonnet at Holy Angels chapel and spent her one-year Candidature at the Teachers Training School at the Aisquith Street Motherhouse in Baltimore. At Reception on July 12, 1953, she received the name Mary Humilita.  After Novitiate, she made first Profession on July 30, 1955. Final vows followed in Baltimore in 1961. She received a B.S. in Education from the College of Notre Dame in 1964. From 1956 to 1969, Humilita taught at schools in Baltimore; Rochester, NY; Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island, NY; and Brooklyn. 

In 1969, she began training as a Licensed Nurse at St. Joseph Nursing School and worked at Sloan Kettering in New York. Later, at St. Vincent School of Nursing, she became a Registered Nurse in 1974 and served at Veterans Hospital, Mercy Health Care Center, and Methodist Hospital, all in Brooklyn. For several of these years, she also cared for her mother while continuing to work as a nurse. From 1989 to 1993, Margaret was an RN at Winston Medical Temporaries in New York, and then Health Care Coordinator/RN at Federal Occupational Health Services.  Many of her colleagues kept in touch with her until the end.

During all these years, she lived in community at St. Saviour and St. Anselm Convents in Brooklyn. At her retirement in 2008, Peggy gave community service, as well as serving as a library aide in St. Anselm School. She came to Villa Notre Dame in 2011, feeling very much the effects of rheumatoid arthritis and often longing for the Lord to take her. She prayed three decades of the Rosary every day. Peggy was something of a well-loved “curmudgeon,” with a quick temper and a strong Irish sense of humor. Her favorite name for those she teased was “Lizzie Tish.” 

She was quite clear that she did not want a wake or funeral; the regular community Mass would do. It was celebrated at VND on Monday, September 24, with the readings of the day and the hymns she had chosen: ”The Lord is My Shepherd,” “Gentle Woman,” “Gift of Finest Wheat,” and “Holy God.”

Peggy’s sister, Mary Spencer, her niece Sheila Flam, and a Cousin Jerry were present. Sister Maria Iannucillo gave this final blessing:

Sister Peggy, we your sisters bless you, as you enter into the joy of the Lord.
We cherish your death as the final proclamation of the Good News to us,
and look to you to be an intercessor for us before our loving God.
May you now know that complete oneness with God for which we strive.
May you meet Jesus, the way you walked, 
the Truth you followed, and the life you led.
May Theresa and Caroline welcome you home.
And finally,
we commend you to the Holy Spirit
through the powerful intercession
of the most blessed Virgin Mary
and we entrust you forever to her blessed hands.

At supper that evening, Peggy’s final directive was carried out: “The sisters are to be wined and dined, fluffed and stuffed.”

In a peaceful, happy spirit, they enjoyed the treat and a table laden with delicious pastries.

Peggy’s cremains will be buried in the SSND section of St. Mary Cemetery, Bethel, Connecticut, at a later date.

-    Sister Kay O’Connell

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