Celine Maria Smith

United States Navy Veteran, Air Traffic Controller, Educator, Mother, and Lifelong Public Servant

Céline O’Connell Smith, a proud United States Navy veteran, air traffic controller, educator, lifelong public servant, mother, sister, mentor, and friend, passed away on the morning of September 22, 2026, at Kaiser Permanente Moreno Valley Medical Center following complications from diabetes and heart failure.

Born in Queens, New York, to Margarita and Thomas O’Connell, Céline was the only daughter among five children. She grew up alongside her four brothers, Tom, Jerry, Patrick, and Kevin—a distinction that perhaps helped forge the independence, resilience, humor, and strength that would characterize her entire life.

Céline left home at only 14 years old and began navigating adulthood remarkably young. She married Joe DiNapoli, and two years later they welcomed their son, John DiNapoli. After their marriage ended, Céline faced an extraordinarily difficult decision. Still very young, without having completed her education and without the resources she believed a child deserved, she relinquished her parental rights so that John could be raised by his father and his father’s new wife in a more stable home.

Life ultimately gave Céline and John another chapter. Mother and son reconnected many years later and were fortunate to spend time together before her passing.

It was also during those early years that Céline met Linda Rossman, who became a lifelong friend and remained a steady presence in Céline’s life for decades.

Determined to build a different future for herself, Céline earned her GED and enlisted in the United States Navy. Her military service became one of the defining and most treasured experiences of her life.

Céline became an air traffic controller, a profession perfectly suited to her sharp mind, confidence under pressure, and appetite for a challenge. Throughout her life, she spoke with great admiration about the work—the adrenaline and responsibility of controlling aircraft and, especially, the intelligence and abilities of the men and women with whom she served.

The Navy also opened the world to her. Her military career took her to places including Biloxi, Mississippi; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Illinois, where she also completed her bachelor’s degree at Southern Illinois University; and ultimately Camp Pendleton, California.

During her military service, Céline met fellow air traffic controller Timothy Smith. They married in 1976 and built a young life together surrounded by friends and, judging by the family photo albums, plenty of dogs—including a beautiful Great Dane that foreshadowed

Céline’s lifelong affection for very large canine companions.

Their daughter, Heather Smith, was born on their third visit to the bases hospital well after her due date at Camp Pendleton. Céline loved telling the story that after three days in the military hospital, the entire bill for Heather’s birth was only nine dollars—three dollars a day.

Céline and Timothy continued their military careers after becoming parents, working varied shifts as two air traffic controllers raising a young daughter.

Following their divorce, Céline and Heather spent a short time in San Jacinto, California, before settling in San Bernardino. Céline continued doing what she had already done so many times in her life: she moved forward.

She enrolled at California State University, San Bernardino, and earned her MBA. Although she initially envisioned a future in corporate America, Céline ultimately chose a path far more characteristic of the life she would lead—service. She completed her teaching credentials and became an educator in 1988, back in the San Jacinto Valley at Hemet Elementary.

Teaching became another calling.

Céline believed children deserved to be seen, challenged, encouraged, and understood. She was especially drawn to the students others sometimes considered difficult. To Céline, the “naughty kids” were often the best ones; they simply needed someone to show them that they mattered.

During her first year of teaching, Céline formed a connection with Jessica Lopez that grew into a friendship lasting for decades. Their friendship weathered many of life’s challenges and remained deeply meaningful to them both.

Céline eventually made her professional home at Hemet Elementary School, where she taught until her retirement. Her years in education brought adventures with students, opportunities to teach beyond the classroom, and enduring friendships with fellow educators.

Among those relationships was Sandra Ciccone, a fellow educator who became much more than a colleague. Céline became part of Sandra’s extended family, sharing in the milestones and celebrations of her four children and later her grandchildren. These relationships gave Céline connection, community, and a sense of family that remained important throughout her life.

Education also gave Céline the opportunity to share one of her greatest passions with Heather: travel.

Mother and daughter traveled throughout the United States, often setting out during summer vacations—or Céline’s months off while teaching year-round—in their yellow 1978 Honda hatchback. They camped along the way and explored the country together. Through those journeys, Céline gave her daughter a lifelong appreciation for travel, independence, adventure, and the extraordinary beauty of America.

Some lessons were more memorable than others.

On one trip, Céline decided that a dark backroad frequented by semi-trucks was an appropriate location to teach 14-year-old Heather how to drive a manual-transmission car. The experience produced considerably more fear than driving expertise, but it became one of the many family stories that could only have happened while traveling with Céline.

Her brother Patrick, affectionately known as “PJ,” helped expand Céline’s adventures beyond the United States. Patrick was Céline’s closest sibling, and their travels included a particularly meaningful journey to Ireland and the Aran Islands, where their mother had been born. Céline also traveled to France, England, Mexico, and Canada.

By the end of her extraordinary life, she had visited every U.S. state except Alaska.

Céline’s life of public service extended well beyond the Navy and the classroom. At different points she worked as a dispatcher for the Los Angeles County Fire Department and for the welfare department. Whether directing aircraft, supporting emergency services, helping families, or educating children, service was a consistent thread throughout her life.

And then there were the dogs.

For all the people Céline loved—and all those who loved her—two of the great loves of her later life walked on four legs.

Maggie Mae, her rescued Great Dane, was a beloved companion until Maggie’s passing in 2018. Jake, her rescued Rhodesian Ridgeback, followed. Both occupied an enormous place in Céline’s heart. They gave her companionship, purpose, comfort, and unconditional love, and anyone who truly knew Céline understood that her dogs were family.

Céline also carried with her the memory of those she had already lost, particularly her dear friend Rosalind Lynch, whose death from COVID deeply affected her. Near the end of Céline’s life, she spoke of wanting to see Ros again. She believed Ros would be waiting for her in heaven and would help her find her way.

Those who loved Céline can take comfort in imagining that reunion.

Céline lived a life that was rarely conventional and never small. She left home as a girl, became a young mother, earned her GED, served her country, controlled aircraft, earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, raised a daughter, taught generations of children, served her community, crossed oceans, traveled nearly every corner of the United States, loved enormous dogs, cultivated friendships that lasted decades, and continually found ways to begin again.

Her life included hardship, difficult choices, accomplishment, humor, adventure, service, friendship, and profound love.

Céline is survived by her brother, Kevin O’Connell; her son, John DiNapoli; and her daughter, Heather Smith, along with the friends, former colleagues, students, extended family members, and others whose lives she touched over the course of her remarkable journey.

For her daughter, however, no accounting of accomplishments can fully capture what has been lost.

Mom, I will love you always. Thank you for being my mother. Thank you for making sure I grew into someone strong, capable, loving, and dedicated—and, above all, someone who would always desire more from this life.

Fair winds and following seas, Céline. Your watch is complete.