Reta Smith

With sad but grateful hearts, we share the news that Reta, age 101, passed from this life into the everlasting embrace of God’s love on July 22, 2022.

Left to cherish her memory as a loving mother, nanny, and Nan Nan are daughters Susan, Kathy (Phil), granddaughter Tara (Francois); great-grandchildren, Johnny, William and Ella; daughter-in-law Theresa (Terry); grandsons Perry (Amy) and Paul (Marika); her sister Mary Fitzpatrick, and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband of 56 years Howard and son John; her parents Annie (Gill) and John L Sullivan; brothers George, Alban, Urban, and Eugene; and sisters Stella, Margaret, Bertha, and Rose (in infancy).

Reta was a founding member of St Stephen’s Church and was very active in her school community and church with the Cursillo Movement and RCIA program, Ladies of Sodality, St. Vincent de Paul and Hope Cottage.

Born in Cardigan, PEI, Reta was the fourth oldest of ten children and after working in Charlottetown at a hotel then lawyer’s office, left PEI in her late teens and came to Halifax where she worked as a housekeeper at the Archbishop’s residence. She then worked at the Victoria General Hospital as a receptionist where the ambulance driver would take her for a spin around the city when they weren’t busy. She also worked for Fairbanks and Morse where she went by the nickname “Sully.”

She was working at the soda fountain at the Riviera Restaurant on spring Garden Road where she met Howard. He would go for a milkshake every night before he started his shift at MT&T. Together they raised their family in North End Halifax after marrying in 1945, in one of the first houses built in St Stephen’s Parish. Their door was always open to everyone in times of need and celebration.

Donations in Reta’s name can be made to a charity of your choice.

A visitation for Reta will be held Monday, August 1, 2022 from 2:00 - 5:00pm at Cruikshank's Halifax Funeral Home, 2666 Windsor Street, Halifax, NS B3K5C9. A funeral service will occur Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at 11:00 AM at Saint Mother Teresa Catholic Church (formerly known as ST. Stephen's), Normandy Drive, Halifax, NS B3K8V6. Burial will follow in the family plot at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Sackville, NS.