Obituary of Rev. Robert G. Smith

Red Creek: The Reverend Father Robert G. Smith, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester for more than 60 years, died Tuesday, October 14, 2014. He was 86. Father Smith, the son of Robert I. Smith and Helen M. Scanlan Smith, was born in Rochester on December 21, 1927. He grew up attending St. Monica’s Church in the city’s 19th Ward. Father Smith attended Immaculate Conception School in Rochester, and as a youngster he had private lessons in piano and organ from Mary Keefe and Professor Philip Kreckle. Father Smith attended St. Andrew’s Seminary and completed theological studies at the former St. Bernard’s Seminary on Lake Avenue in Rochester, where he received a B.A. in Philosophy in 1949. Bishop James E. Kearney officiated at Father Smith’s ordination at Sacred Heart Cathedral on June 6, 1953. In his long and devoted service to God and God’s People, Father Smith served in many leadership roles in many places where he was beloved. He served as Assistant Pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Auburn (1953-56) and as assistant pastor of St. Francis parish in Geneva (1956-60) before assuming a professorship in Sacred Music at St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester in 1960. Between 1960 and 1964 Father Bob studied music at the Eastman School of Music, Manhattenville College of the Sacred Heart, St. Vincent’s Abbey, Latrobe, PA. He also studied Choral Conducting and had voice lessons with Professor Arthur Kraft, Dean of the Vocal School at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Father Smith was Professor of Church Music at St. Andrew’s from 1960 to 1962, and at St. Bernard’s Seminary from 1960 to 1967. He was also Choral Director of Our Lady of Mercy Parish (1960-1967), and he organized the Organist Society for the Diocese of Rochester in 1965 to help organists in the changeover from Latin to English liturgy. He started the St. Louis Choir in 1970. In 1967, Father Smith was appointed Assistant Pastor at St. John the Evangelist Church in Spencerport, and then was appointed to serve as the Newman Chaplain at Cornell University in 1968. He also served in his ministry as an assisting priest at St. Louis Church in Pittsford (1969-1971), and as pastor in at numerous churches: St. Januarius Church in Naples, St. Margaret Mary in Irondequoit, St. Louis Church in Pittsford, St. Mary Magdalene in Wolcott, St. Thomas the Apostle in Red Creek and St. Jude’s in Fair Haven. As Pastor at St. Januarius in Naples (1971-1978), Father Smith started an organization called Compassionate Friends which is a support group for bereaved families. He had been a Director of the West Ontario Community Chest for 7 years, and was Chairman of the Naples Community Chest in 1974. To assist F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua obtain 20 additional beds, Father Smith was instrumental in beginning the Naples Care Organization, and the Naples Bed Crisis Committee. At St. Margaret Mary in Irondequoit where he served from 1978 to 1984 he was Police Chaplain and also began a chapter of Compassionate Friends. Father Smith became pastor of St. Mary Magdalene in Wolcott in 1984. When the Diocese of Rochester reorganized parishes in 1985, he assumed additional responsibility with St. Thomas Church in Red Creek, and St. Jude Chapel in Fair Haven (Catholic Community of the Blessed Trinity) He was a member of the Wolcott Rotary Club, and served as the club president from 1987-1988. In 1989 he was appointed Senior Chaplain at the Butler Correctional Facility in Wayne County, and served in that capacity until 1998 when he retired. There will be no prior visitation. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 a.m. on Saturday October 25th at St. Mary Magdalene Church, 15 Northup Street in Wolcott. Arr: Norton Funeral Home.