Sister Georgine Marie Smith, a member of the Franciscan Sisters who had been principal of St. Joseph's School in Fullerton, died of heart disease June 9 at her order's Assisi House in Aston, Pa. The former Northeast Baltimore resident was 88.
Born Phyllis Jeanne Smith in Baltimore and raised on North Milton Avenue near Patterson Park, she was the daughter of George Smith, a printer and box manufacturer, and his wife, Hazel Marie Smith, a homemaker. She was a 1946 graduate of Catholic High School, where she sang in the a capella choir.
She joined the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in 1948 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a master's degree at the Catholic University of America. She received the name Georgine Marie, which she used throughout her life.
She taught at St. Paul School in Philadelphia and St. Joseph on the Brandywine in New Castle County, Del., before returning to Baltimore. She taught at Immaculate Conception School in Towson, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Middle River and Shrine of the Little Flower School in Belair-Edison. She was later principal of St. Joseph School in Fullerton.
After her retirement, she became a volunteer at Little Flower School and St. Anthony School.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Assisi House, 600 Red Hill Road in Aston, Pa.
Survivors include a brother, Paul Smith of Towson; two sisters, Nancy Dentz of Annapolis and Mary Ellen Sologuren of Pompano Beach, Fla.; and nieces and nephews.