Obituary of Katherine Smith

Katherine Camille Smith was the first-born child of Camille (née Hayden) and Hilliard Smith on March 19, 1956, in Philadelphia, PA. As the oldest, she helped raise her two brothers, James and Drew, and her sister, Marguerite. They lived at 53rd and Walton Ave in Southwest Philadelphia. She went to Overbrook High School and worshipped at African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. She still has friends from her time living in Philly, including Vanessa. She moved with family to New Jersey in 1976 and graduated from Williamstown High School. Additionally, she graduated with an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Camden County College. While in New Jersey, she had many friends including Beverley Hazelwood and Ann Hargrove. Katherine moved to Philadelphia and worked at Scott Paper. With the help of a friend, Keith Johnson, Katherine became a Computer Programmer. In 1985, Katherine moved to El Paso, Texas, with her young son, Sterling. She worked for El Paso Natural Gas until 1994 as a Programmer Analyst. Katherine became skilled in her trade while sharing a household with her sister in northeast El Paso. With the help of a friend, Alice Williams, Katherine would move to North Carolina. Katherine and Sterling drove from Texas to Wilmington, NC where she joined Comprehensive Home Health Care as a Systems Analyst.  Even though Kathy and Sterling enjoyed their time away, they felt drawn back to the Philadelphia area where they could be closer to her brother, James, sister-in-law, Kay and niece, Samantha. In 1996, after moving back to the Philadelphia area, Katherine worked at several companies as a Computer Programmer, including Astea, Fres-co and Sterling Medical. She had wonderful friends, like Mindy Bartholomew. While living in Collegeville, PA, Katherine had a massive stroke at the age of 46.  She became disabled and lived with her sister, Marguerite, for two years hoping to regain movement in her left side. Even though she made progress, it was not enough for her to live independently. Katherine moved into Deptford Center, Deptford, NJ in 2005 and stayed there for an extended period, with one short period of assisted living. She was a long-time resident and basically "ran the place" according to nursing staff and aides. She passed on September 1, 2023, due to complications from a second stroke. She had many friends through the years, Robin, Lenore, Tina, and Monique. "Ms. Katherine" will be remembered fondly.  Growing up she loved listening to music especially from the 60s and 70s, including the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Delfonics, the Stylistics, the O'Jays, Phylis Hyman, Jackson 5, Patti Labelle and Luther Vandross. She loved listening to the radio station, WDAS on Sunday nights with Butterball. She went on quests to find the oldies and held on to her record collection. She will be remembered for her love of traveling and driving. She was often ready to pick up and go! She was friendly and loving towards her friends and family and always had a place for people to sleep. Lastly, she always kept her faith in God even as circumstances changed later in life. Katherine was preceded in death by her parents, Camille and Hilliard Smith and her nephew James. She will be remembered by her son, Sterling; her siblings: James, Drew-Ibrahim, and Marguerite; her nephews; Vincent, Christian, Drew Ibrahim II, and Iromy-Kalel; niece, Samantha, and countless aunties, uncles, and cousins. We will miss her dearly.