Sister Rita Smith, OP (Sister Jude Martin), died on Aug. 23, at age 93, after serving as a Sister of St. Dominic of Amityville for almost 74 years. On July 20, 1933,
Robert and Mary (Walsh) Smith, both natives of Brooklyn, welcomed their daughter Rita into their family in Lindenhurst, New York. Rita joined her sisters Josie, Betty,
Martha, Anna, Marie, Theresa, Elsie, and her brothers John, James, and Robert.
Her sister Patty soon completed the family of 12 living children. Rita and her siblings went to Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, where they were taught by the Sisters of St. Dominic. Rita continued her education at Queen of the Rosary Academy in Amityville, New York.
Sister Rita was received as a postulant of the Sisters of St. Dominic on Sept. 6, 1952. On Aug. 4, 1953, Rita, along with her “set” known as the “Pink Carnations,” was clothed in the Dominican habit and was given the religious name Sister Jude Martin. They professed first vows on Aug. 7, 1954, and final vows on Aug. 7, 1957.
Sister Rita received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Molloy College (now a university) in Rockville Centre, New York; a Master of Arts Degree in pastoral ministry from Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, New York; and a certificate in counseling in drug and alcoholism from South Oaks Institute, Amityville.
Sister Rita taught at the elementary school level for 30 years. She taught at St. Clement Pope School, South Ozone Park; St John the Evangelist School, Riverhead, New York; St. Ignatius Loyola School, Hicksville, New York; Our Lady of Lourdes School, Massapequa Park, New York; Child Development Center, Westbury, New York; and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Lindenhurst.
In 1984, Sister Rita moved into secondary education at St. John the Baptist High School, West Islip, New York. After realizing there was a problem with drug and alcohol abuse among some students and their families she got her certification in drug and alcohol counseling from South Oaks. She used these counseling skills at St. John the Baptist and Crossings Recovery Centers in Babylon and Deer Park. In 2007, she became the intake coordinator for the Town of Babylon Division of Drug and Alcohol.
Sister Rita was very close to her family and cared for several family members as they aged. She has been predeceased by her parents and all of her siblings. Sister Rita will be missed by many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, as well as her greatgrandnieces and great-grandnephews.
She will also be missed by the Sisters of St. Dominic, especially the members of the “Pink Carnation Set” — Catherine Enterlin, Colleen Therese Fogarty, Audrey Harsen, Joan Losson, Eva Mazzetta, Eileen Nolan, Joan Nolan, and Patricia Walsh — as well as her high school friend, Anthony Therese Roncallo, and Carolann Masone, the last sister to share local community life with Rita.
A wake and funeral were offered in St. Albert Chapel in the Motherhouse in Amityville on Sept. 1. Since Sister Rita has chosen to be cremated, interment in St. Dominic Cemetery will take place at a later date.