Sr. SmithA memorial Mass for Sister Ann Smith (Mother James Marie) will be celebrated Aug. 29 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Springfield, Ill. Sister Ann, 91, died July 31 at St. Clare Hospital in Fenton. She was an Ursuline Sister and a teacher for many years in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The daughter of James A. Smith and Marguerite Roer Smith, she was born Oct. 5, 1927, in Springfield, Ill., where she graduated from Ursuline Academy. She entered the Ursuline Sisters in Crystal City in 1947 and made her vows in 1949. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the College of New Rochelle in New York and a master’s degree in education at Saint Louis University.
Sister Ann’s long and distinguished teaching career found her serving in Springfield and Oak Park, Ill.; Dallas, Texas; and St. Louis. She taught at St. Joseph School in Clayton from 1966-67 and at St. Peter School in Kirkwood from 1967-74. She especially enjoyed teaching reading and math to small groups of high-risk students using special methods and motivation. She continued tutoring up to age 90, only retiring completely in 2018.
She most recently was a resident of St. Andrew’s at Francis Place in Eureka. Sister Ann donated her body to science via Saint Louis University School of Medicine.