By Gia Myers • Posted January 24, 2025

The five Smith siblings grew up in the Kensington section of Philadelphia in a working-class Catholic family during the post-World War II era, and all went on to live lives dedicated to the Catholic Church, especially Catholic education.

Four of the Smith siblings committed their lives to working in Catholic education. Three of them committed  to religious life, while two married and raised Catholic families.

The oldest sibling is Sister Mary Smith, I.H.M., a Catholic school teacher and administrator who celebrates 60 years in religious life this year.

The second oldest, Kathleen Hagarty (known to all as “Kass”), married husband Tim and raised three sons while teaching for 30 years in Catholic schools before passing away in 2014.

The third oldest, brother Tom, worked in Catholic education for a total of 45 years and is now retired. Married to wife Maryrose, he’s the father of two children and grandfather of five.

The youngest is Father Vincent (Vince) Smith, O.S.F.S., who was ordained a Catholic priest with the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in 1985. Like his three elder siblings, he’s had a lifelong career in Catholic education and is currently the director of Salesian Spirituality and Mission at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia.

The second youngest sibling is Theresa, who took a different path. She’s a Hawthorne Dominican sister who took the religious name Sister Miriam and today serves at a Catholic skilled nursing home for uninsurable cancer patients.

The five Smith children grew up in St. Joan of Arc Parish in Kensington, where they all attended the parish school.

Their father, Thomas Joseph, a metal worker and maker of ball bearings, “was always very active in church,” said Sister Mary. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society, and also helped with parish carnivals and bingo games.

Their mother, Mary Elizabeth, was a homemaker while the children were young and she “was always very supportive of all of us in our in our life choices,” said Sister Mary, who remembers her mother sewing dresses for the girls’ dolls, and preparing favorite meals, including bean soup and Sunday roasts.

The family enjoyed watching Philadelphia sports teams together, and even ran a refreshment stand outside Franklin Field for Eagles football games and the Palestra for Sixers basketball games, serving patrons hot dogs, hot chocolate, and soda.

Besides the family’s love of sports, their Catholic faith was the foundation of family life.

“The rosary was very important in our family,” said Sister Miriam. She recalls their dad praying the rosary every night after watching the evening news and the whole family praying the rosary together on long car trips.

Service to others – especially neighbors in their close-knit row home community – was also very important to the Smith parents.

Sister Miriam said her mother “would help other people in the neighborhood out very quietly, whatever their needs were,” and always encouraged her children to serve in life wherever they could.

In the siblings’ teenage years, sisters Mary and Kass attended Little Flower High School in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia. Brothers Tom and Vince attended the now closed Northeast Catholic High School on Erie Avenue between Frankford and Kensington, and sister Theresa attended Mercy Technical School on Broad Street in Philadelphia, one of the first Catholic vocational schools in the U.S.

The siblings credit their family life for their love of the Catholic faith, particularly the mission of Catholic education.

Sister Mary studied education at Immaculata College and taught at archdiocesan schools before going to Peru, where she taught for 34 years.

She eventually returned to the archdiocese, becoming president of St. Hubert High School (2009-2012), and she’s currently an administrative assistant at Bishop Shanahan High School.

Tom was awarded a soccer scholarship to Philadelphia Textile School, now Thomas Jefferson University East Falls Campus, and earned a bachelor’s degree in textile marketing and management.

Instead of pursuing a high-paying job in business, Tom took an opportunity to coach soccer and teach math and business at his alma mater, Northeast Catholic. He went on to serve in the Office of Catholic Education and then consult for the Independence Mission Schools of Philadelphia.

Father Vince began his Catholic teaching career at Archbishop Wood High School in Bucks County, and then became campus minister at his alma mater, Northeast Catholic. He later spent five years in Bangalore, India, helping establish his order there, before returning to Northeast Catholic where he eventually became president.

Reflecting on his family’s history of Catholic faith and service, Father Vince says that his parents gave each of their five children “an invitation to the faith by example.”

“We were abundantly blessed and taught how to serve,” he said.