In peace, Evelyn Smith fell asleep in the Lord at 9:00 PM on Sunday, October 20, 2019, at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, with her youngest daughter at her side.
Evelyn was born on January 26, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, to Anthony Salvatore Aliotta of Sicily, Italy, and Bertha Pfeiffer of Vienna, Austria.
As a young lady, during WWII, she moved to Wisconsin to serve as Secretary to the Post General Commander of the 6th Corps at Army Base Camp McCoy, where she claimed she took a lot of grief from him because her security clearance was higher than his. While there, she met and married a service man, with whom she had three children and in the early 1960s, they settled in Westwood, Kansas.
Evelyn began to volunteer at the Saint Agnes Catholic School library, but when they found out she had been on the mimeographing squad at Andrew Jackson High School in Brooklyn, took shorthand at over 100 words a minute, and had a high security clearance, they hired her as Secretary to the Principal. She worked for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in that position for 35 years until her retirement. In her memoirs of this time she said “I love being around the children, they are beautiful. They keep me young and they are so sincere. What they say comes from the heart.” She also believed that a Catholic made a real difference in their lives. During her time at St. Agnes, under the pontificate of St. John VI, she was enrolled as a perpetual member of the Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood.
In 1973, she married James A. Smith of Richmond, Missouri, a Navy veteran of WWII. He turned out to be the soul mate and love of her life. They were together 34 years until his passing on February 21, 2007.
Her final five years were spent in the Assisted Living wing of Bishop Spencer Place in Kansas City, Missouri. While there, although afflicted with blindness in one eye and severe arthritis, she spent her days hand crocheting baby hats and knitting baby blankets and provided hundreds of these to area hospitals to give to newborns. The Leaven published its lead front page article about her charity on September 29, 2017, in which they quoted her as saying “My grandmother had me knitting baby socks on four needles when I was eight years old. I could knit and crochet and do needlework, and so I made things for others.” With every baby hat she finished, she said a prayer for the child who would receive it.
She is survived by three children: Susan Jordan-Cunningham (Robert) of Sarasota, Florida, Rodney Zabel (Lola) of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Mother Andrea Nicholas of Rochelle, Virginia; four stepchildren: Bruce Zabel of Las Vegas, Nevada, Azalia LeBlanc of Las Vegas, Nevada, Juanita Sue Leslie of Shawnee, Kansas, and Kathy Ohmer of Spring Hill, Kansas; 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
A Rosary will prayed at 6:00 PM with and visitation to follow until 8 PM on Friday, October 25th, at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, KS 66215. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Saint Agnes Church, 5250 Mission Rd, Shawnee Mission, KS 66205, at 9 AM on Saturday, October 26th. Entombment will be at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery, 8321 Quivira Rd, Lenexa, KS 66215.
The family asks that donations be made to her daughter’s convent, Queen of All Skete, 445 Longshot Ln, Rochelle, VA 22738.