She was raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, and attended St. Paul’s RCC Grade School and Central Catholic High School alongside the man who would become her husband. They both graduated in 1957.
A serious and engaged student, Patricia received the American Legion Award for excellence in grades 1 through 8. She loved both reading and writing and was a member of the school’s Quill and Scroll, which encourages, supports, and recognizes student initiative and achievement in scholastic journalism. She also served as layout editor for the Central Catholic yearbook and was a member of the National Honor Society. A woman of strong faith, she was a member of the Solidarity of BUM, reflecting the Catholic social teaching that all people belong to one human family and are called to stand with those on the margins. She was also a member of the Junior Catholic Women’s Club. Patricia was May Queen for St. Paul’s RCC and again during her senior year of nursing school at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Reading, Pennsylvania. She later worked as a maternity nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital and then at Virginia Beach Hospital in Virginia while her husband served in the military.
Patricia especially loved reading and writing. As a child, when she ran out of books to read, she turned to encyclopedias. She also enjoyed cooking, genealogy and family history, tracing seven generations of her family. Her creative interests included scherenschnitte, crocheting, needlepoint, and gardening, but above all, she loved being a wife and mother.
Patricia went on to attend St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, where she graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1960.
Patricia married her grade school sweetheart, Allen Jennings Smith, at St. Paul’s RCC on April 15, 1961, and shared 49 years of marriage with him until his death in May 2010. She was a devoted wife, mother, friend, Catholic woman and together they raised four children and were blessed with six grandchildren. She is survived by her four children: Mark Smith, his former wife, Nella Mellace, and his wife, Robin; Michael Smith and his wife, Michelle; Patricia Sweigart and her husband, Scott; and Matthew Smith, his former wife, Jennifer Shanley, and his fiancée, Brittany Gesek. She is also survived by her six grandchildren: Ashley, Kayleigh and her fiancé Will, Ryan and his girlfriend Brianna, Jack, Cullen and Michael Francis.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 10 AM at Holy Guardian Angels Parish, 3121 Kutztown Road, Reading, Pennsylvania, followed by burial at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, RR#2, Box 484, Annville, Pennsylvania.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in honor of all veterans be made to the Lebanon Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 1700 S. Lincoln Avenue, Lebanon, PA 17042. Please make checks payable to Lebanon VA Medical Center Voluntary Services. Arrangements are being handled by Theo C. Auman Funeral Home Inc., Reading, PA.www.aumansinc.com
