Priest Walter Smith, Rector of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church here, unexpectedly fell asleep in the Lord on Saturday, May 14, 2016.
A native of Montana, he was an art history professor and gallery curator/director in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Mississippi prior to his conversion to Orthodox Christianity in 1996. In 2001, he began full-time studies at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, from which he received the Master of Divinity degree in 2004. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2003. Prior to his assignment to the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church he had served Holy Trinity Church, McAdoo, PA; Holy Trinity Church, Moose Jaw, SK, Canada; and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Missoula, MT.
Father Walter is survived by his beloved wife, Presbytera Nancy, who received her Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Chicago in 2000 and taught at Marywood University, Scranton, PA from 2001 to 2006. A trained iconographer, she painted icons for Holy Trinity Church, Moose Jaw, SK. He is further survived by their daughter, Flora, a graduate student at the New School, New York, NY.
Visitation will begin at the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Church, 3125 North Main Street, Waterbury, CT at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20. The Funeral for a Priest will be celebrated at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, May 21, the Divine Liturgy and a Panikhida will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m., followed by interment in the parish cemetery.
May Father Walter’s memory be eternal!