Katie Smith, preschool aide in St. Paul School, Princeton
August 2, 2021 at 7:18 p.m.
“Giving our loved one back to God is the ultimate sacrifice we are asked to make … we join Mary at the foot of the Cross,” said Msgr. Walter Nolan during his homily; the retired priest and former pastor of St. Paul Parish was principal celebrant of the Mass.
“Katie spent many hours before the tabernacle of Christ … now she sees him face to face,” he continued. “I can’t even put into words how awesome that is for Katie … I hope we can find comfort in the grace of St. Francis, who saw God in everyone and everything – and I believe Katie lived that.”
Born in Trenton to Timothy Francis and Clare (Michel) Smith, she grew up in East Windsor and Princeton, where the family were parishioners of St. Paul. Ms. Smith graduated from St. Paul School in 2004, and from Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville in 2008. She attended Villanova University, Villanova, Pa., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2012.
Most recently Ms. Smith was enrolled in the graduate program at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education. She also assisted in the St. Paul School preschool and served as substitute teacher. While a parishioner, she was responsible for bringing monthly 24-hour Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to St. Paul.
She was an avid skier and enjoyed basketball, hiking, playing the piano and photography. A deeply religious person, she discerned a vocation to religious life for four years and commemorated the experience in her blog “Jesus Echo: Contemplating Life with God.” When she determined religious life was not God’s plan for her, she wrote in a March 2020 post, “Probably the most important thing I have been learning is … I don’t need to do anything extraordinary to have a deep faith in God … the important thing is … whether or not I am doing God’s will.”
Friend Evelyn M. Behling, who spoke at the end of the Mass, called her “a woman of great humility. In many ways Katie was in the world but was not of the world; her way of being present to God was being present to others.”
Katie is survived by her parents, brother Christopher James Smith, sister-in-law Ryan Babarsky, niece Linnea Smith, sister Laura Anne Smith, and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Interment followed in Princeton Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul School: http://tinyurl.com/KSmithMemFund
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“Giving our loved one back to God is the ultimate sacrifice we are asked to make … we join Mary at the foot of the Cross,” said Msgr. Walter Nolan during his homily; the retired priest and former pastor of St. Paul Parish was principal celebrant of the Mass.
“Katie spent many hours before the tabernacle of Christ … now she sees him face to face,” he continued. “I can’t even put into words how awesome that is for Katie … I hope we can find comfort in the grace of St. Francis, who saw God in everyone and everything – and I believe Katie lived that.”
Born in Trenton to Timothy Francis and Clare (Michel) Smith, she grew up in East Windsor and Princeton, where the family were parishioners of St. Paul. Ms. Smith graduated from St. Paul School in 2004, and from Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville in 2008. She attended Villanova University, Villanova, Pa., graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2012.
Most recently Ms. Smith was enrolled in the graduate program at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education. She also assisted in the St. Paul School preschool and served as substitute teacher. While a parishioner, she was responsible for bringing monthly 24-hour Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to St. Paul.
She was an avid skier and enjoyed basketball, hiking, playing the piano and photography. A deeply religious person, she discerned a vocation to religious life for four years and commemorated the experience in her blog “Jesus Echo: Contemplating Life with God.” When she determined religious life was not God’s plan for her, she wrote in a March 2020 post, “Probably the most important thing I have been learning is … I don’t need to do anything extraordinary to have a deep faith in God … the important thing is … whether or not I am doing God’s will.”
Friend Evelyn M. Behling, who spoke at the end of the Mass, called her “a woman of great humility. In many ways Katie was in the world but was not of the world; her way of being present to God was being present to others.”
Katie is survived by her parents, brother Christopher James Smith, sister-in-law Ryan Babarsky, niece Linnea Smith, sister Laura Anne Smith, and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Interment followed in Princeton Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul School: http://tinyurl.com/KSmithMemFund