Rita Smith, counselor, teacher, member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville for 74 years, dies at 93

Both her mother's faith and how she cared for a large family helped to shape Sister Rita Smith into the teacher and counselor she became, her family said.

"She was a person that asked for nothing and gave a lot in a very quiet way, not drawing attention to herself," said Sister Judy Flanagan, her immediate superior in the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville. "She was very down to earth."

A teacher and addiction counselor, Smith paired warmth with candor, offering an attentive ear to those who sought her guidance, colleagues said. Smith, who lived at the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville motherhouse and spent nearly 74 years with the religious order, died Aug. 23. She was 93.

Called to serve

Born July 20, 1933, in Lindenhurst to Robert and Mary Smith, she was one of 18 children. Smith attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help School and Queen of the Rosary Academy before entering the Sisters of St. Dominic in 1952. She took the name Sister Jude Martin and professed her final vows in 1957.

Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from Molloy College and a master’s in pastoral ministry from the Seminary of Immaculate Conception in Huntington. After 30 years teaching elementary school, including at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lindenhurst, she moved to St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip in 1984.

There, seeing students struggle with alcohol and drug addiction drew her toward counseling, said her niece Judy Smith, of Lindenhurst.

"It was the need she saw, and she knew she had to respond to it," said Sister Carolann Masone, of Amityville.

Smith earned her counseling certification at South Oaks Institute in Amityville and worked with students at St. John the Baptist and clients at Crossings Recovery centers in Babylon and Deer Park. In 2007, she became intake coordinator for the Town of Babylon’s Division of Drug and Alcohol.

Ability to listen

Diane Lester, of Amagansett, said her aunt brought to counseling an ability to listen without passing judgment, encouraging people to talk through what was troubling them.

"She would say things that would make the person she was talking to think," Lester said. "She was always very open, but open in a way that made people feel comfortable."

Her guidance stayed with students decades after she left the classroom, said her niece Gina Smith, of Lindenhurst. When Gina posted about her aunt’s illness on Facebook, former students from Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Lindenhurst flooded the comments with prayers and memories of how Smith had helped them through difficult times.

"Some of these kids have got to be 60, 70 years old," Gina Smith said. "And they still remembered her."

Devoted to family

Even while balancing her career and religious responsibilities, Smith made time for family, helping care for her sister through brain cancer, Gina Smith recalled. That devotion continued as she grew older: As long as she could drive, Smith visited her sister, who was nearing 100, every day, Masone said.

"She had a fierce love for her family," Masone said. "And did everything she could to help any of them in any way."

Retirement never dulled Smith’s curiosity, Masone said. In her spare time, the longtime teacher continued learning by watching science programs on PBS, following television veterinarians as they cared for animals and taking an interest in the lives of those around her.

When she needed care herself, Smith’s instinct was still to put others first, Flanagan said.

"I remember once she needed dental work and said, ‘Ah, forget it. The community doesn’t have to spend that type of money on me,’ " Flanagan recalled.

Smith is survived by nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews. A funeral Mass was celebrated on Sept. 1 at St. Albert Chapel at the Amityville motherhouse. At her request, Smith was cremated, followed by interment at St. Dominic Cemetery in Amityville.