Services Set For Sister Margaret Smyth, 'Apostle Of The East End'

RIVERHEAD, NY — Funeral plans for a have been set for a beloved Long Island nun who devoted her life to helping others with a ferocity of spirit and a heart brimming with compassion and kindness.

According to the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, Sister Margaret Rose Smyyth (S. Mary Noella), who was born on October 29, 1939, "was welcomed home by God on Monday. She was 83 years old and had devoted 65 years to religious life, her order said.

Visitation will take place Wednesday from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., when a short wake and prayer service will take place in Spanish at St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church, located at 546 St. John's Place in Riverhead. Visitation will also take place from 9:45 a.m. until 11 a.m. Thursday, with a funeral mass beginning immediately after in English, followed by interment at the Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse Cemetery in Amityville.

Sister Margaret, the Sisters of St. Dominic said, began her ministry as an educator and then a principal. She earned a bachelors degree from St. John’s University and two masters degrees from Fordham University. She spent time in El Salvador and Guatemala and for the last 25 years, they said: "Sister Margaret has lovingly ministered to the Latino community on the East End of Long Island. She was the 'Apostle of the East End'".

Speaking with Patch on Friday, Sister Margaret, a member of Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, said she was sick but felt better and expected to be in the office Monday. She died over the weekend.

Heartbroken members of her staff reached out to Ligia Elizabeth Soto-Cruz, who worked closely with Sister Margaret, to share the news.

"It was heartbreaking to learn of the passing away of Sister Margaret Smyth," Soto-Cruz said. "I knew her since Day 1 when she moved to Riverhead. She helped us in so many ways. She helped me become a strong person."

Sonia Spar, co-chair of the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force, also shared her sorrow. "Rest in peace, Sister Margarita. You will be so dearly missed! You were a warrior and left many life lessons to us all. I loved how we always found a reason to laugh to lighten the work and efforts many of us did together with you. There was always one more cause to fight for, to move forward on the path to justice and equity. The last one was better access to the service in Spanish in different government and health institutions."

Spar added: "You spread the light and many of us will continue carrying the torch. I'm hurt by your departure."

The deep love many felt for Sister Margaret was on full display in 2017, when a crowd gathered St. Agnes Church in Greenport, as always, for the usual Saturday night mass, which is spoken in Spanish — but on that particular September night, there was an even greater sense of joy and anticipation.

The many whose lives she'd touched gathered to surprise Smyth — who, at the time, was marking 60 years of service to the church, and the vast community of residents she'd helped along the way.

Sister Margaret, who first began her life in the convent at 17, reflected at the time on how times have changed.

"I wore a habit back then," she said, "I was a teacher in an elementary school. We never went out, and when we did, it was two by two. I left maybe only three times a year in the beginning to visit my family."

But in the years since, "Things have changed radically," Sister Margaret said.

Dressed in a skirt and blouse, Sister Margaret said she was able to go out into the community and talk to the people she's dedicated her life to serving. "Imagine if you couldn't go into their houses?" she said.

A changing world has made it more difficult for many to embrace their faith, Sister Margaret said..
As she spoke to a Patch reporter, two young men walked up to apologize for missing Sunday mass because they had to work.

"I tell people that have to work on weekends, mass is held every day. Make believe Tuesday is Sunday," she said."

Eight years ago, Sister Margaret told Patch she had no intention of slowing down. She planned to continue serving, "until I don't have the energy or the desire." Which, based on her fierce track records, seemed like she would continue her work forever.

"I'm one of those Energizer bunnies," she laughed.

She continued to serve until her last day. On Friday, she gave an impassioned interview to a Patch reporter about the plight of those who are homeless on the East End. She told Patch about the escalating need this holiday season, and the 500 gift cards being distributed to help children and families — and about a food distribution event planned for Monday.

Sister Margaret was a diminutive, white haired woman with dancing eyes who looks every inch a beloved nun who’s revered by scores, and whose lives she touched with her dedication to the downtrodden.

But the stories she told — about teaching in a classroom with gunshots fired outside, of hiding under mattresses in a truck in the Dominican Republic after a coup, as she fled to the countryside with bullets raining around her — were conveyed with the strength of a gutsy woman fearless in her conviction to do whatever it takes to help the unfortunate overcome obstacles and challenges.

“I’ve led a very unusual life,” Sister Margaret told Patch in a past interview.

Sister Margaret, who ran the North Fork Spanish Apostolate, with offices in Riverhead and Greenport, worked tirelessly to help the area’s swelling immigrant population with issues ranging from employment assistance, inadequate housing, education, unpaid wages, health issues, abuse in the workplace, and even the most basic tasks, such as guidance with applications and school forms.

Over the 20 years that she has been based on the East End — living for many years at the now-closed Sacred Heart Convent in Cutchogue, Smyth provided comprehensive services addressing the needs of immigrants, both legal and undocumented.

Sister Margaret served as the lifeline for the local Latino community, working on a sea of assistance programs.

She could be seen in the woods and on the beaches of the East End, bringing food and help to the growing homeless population.

“It’s not just the Hispanic community,” she said. “We help anyone that walks through my doors. “If you can help a person’s life, in whatever way — it can be a simple thing, a piece of advice, or a really big thing, in some cases — it’s great, because you feel like you’ve had a little piece of shaping their future.”

Sister Margaret faced her own personal challenges along the way — including a battle with cancer about 25 years ago.

“I’m fine now,” she said in 2017. “I’m too tough to go.”

Born to Irish immigrant parents in Woodside, Queens, Sister Margaret was surrounded by a religious family, including a priest and nuns. Throughout high school, her life’s mission became clear as she took a ferry on the weekends to wheel hospital patients to church on Sunday mornings.

She entered the convent at 17 years old. And more than six decades years later, she never looked back.

Beginning her career as an elementary school teacher, the computer-savvy Sister stayed in touch with many of her former students through Facebook.

Later, as an associate pastor of a parish in East New York, Brooklyn, she persevered despite the tough neighborhood. “Someone shot a guy through the head outside my classroom while I was teaching,” she said.

Despite the harrowing incidents, Sister Margaret said teaching offered great fulfillment. Teaching a “Great Books,” series, the nun, who once thought of being an actress, used drama and theatrics to engage her students — some of whom have told her she instilled their future love of reading.

Her Riverhead office has long been filled with young Latino mothers and babies, men looking for work, all manner of individuals seeking solace and advice, who line up early and fill her days.

Sister Margaret thrived on diversity and touched lives in every demographic corner. The Turkish men at her gas station call her “our sister,” and pumped her gas.

“I have no idea if they are Christian or Muslim,” she said. “It doesn’t matter — we bond over humanity.”