Father Smith remembered as ‘a spiritual giant’ at University of St. Thomas

Father David Smith had a powerful effect on the many students he taught over several decades at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. The retired faculty member at the university died Sept. 13. He was 85. 

Paul Langenfeld, 59, was an undergraduate at UST in the 1980s and took every opportunity to take classes from a man he first met at his home parish of Guardian Angels in Hastings (now St. Elizabeth Ann Seton) when he was about 12. The entire Langenfeld family got to know — and love — a priest who regularly celebrated weekend Masses at Guardian Angels. That led to meals at the family home, and a trajectory for Paul that led him to consider priesthood and eventually earn both an undergraduate degree at St. Thomas and graduate degrees at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. 

“Father David Whitten Smith is more of a living saint than any person I have ever known in my life,” said Langenfeld, who works with people who have physical and developmental disabilities through his job as a personal care assistant and an organization he started called the Langenfeld Foundation. “Not only was he a living saint, but he was my spiritual director for a decade. … He was also a mentor — my mentor — my role model, my trusted advisor, and one of my dearest friends.” 

Others felt the same way about a man Langenfeld calls “a spiritual giant.” He recalls his undergraduate days when Father Smith would sometimes celebrate daily Mass in the basement of the main chapel at St. Thomas. 

“It’s an understatement to say that the chapel was full,” Langenfeld said. “It’s an understatement to say that it was standing room only. It was an overflow crowd. The chapel could not hold all the students. As Mass was going on, they would be standing outside the chapel in the hallway and sitting on the steps going up to the entrance door. It reminded me of when Jesus was preaching and everybody wanted to hear — even if they couldn’t be close and even if they couldn’t see him, to just be someplace where they could hear his words.” 

Father Smith, who grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois, was ordained in 1964 and served at Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul (1964-1966) and St. John the Baptist in Excelsior (1966) before starting graduate studies in 1967. In 1970, he joined the faculty at UST in the Theology Department, and later founded the Department of Justice and Peace in 1985. He retired from the university in 2007. 

It was at St. Thomas that Father Smith met Father Michael Joncas, also a longtime professor in theology at the university who recently retired. 

“When I, too, joined the Theology Department after my own doctoral study in Rome, David generously welcomed me and shared his wisdom about being a professor who tried to maintain high standards for his students, but was also understanding of their difficulties and generous with time for counsel,” said Father Joncas, 70. “As I got to know him, I came to admire his meticulous scholarship in the Scriptures and his ability to translate their wisdom for daily life.” 

One of Father Smith’s passions was reading. Over many decades, he amassed a collection that couldn’t be contained in his apartment at the Leo Byrne Residence for priests in St. Paul. John Krause, a longtime friend of Father Smith’s, was part of a crew that moved Smith from his apartment at St. Thomas to the Byrne Residence to make room for new buildings on the campus. 

“When we moved him, I think he had three different bookshelves that were maybe 4 feet wide and maybe five shelves high, full of books,” said Krause, 79, a parishioner of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. “The top four shelves of each of those racks were filled with books that were catalogued. So, when we moved those books, we had to pack them as best we could in order of their cataloguing.” 

Father Smith had another collection of books that is housed in a storage unit not far from the Byrne Residence. Not bad for a man who for decades had to place books in a specially designed box to keep the fumes from making him sick. He dealt with severe allergies to both chemicals and food. As far back as Langenfeld can remember, Father Smith would grind up bland foods and place them in a jar to take wherever he went. He accepted many dinner invitations, but always brought his own food, which is all he could eat. 

“He lived a life of great suffering, great hardship,” Langenfeld said. “He lived a life without a lot of wordly pleasures, and yet he lived life to the fullest.” 

Father Smith was part of an ecumenical Christian community called the People of Praise, and he was known for praying for and over people for healing, Krause said, noting that he heard Father Smith describe a few instances in which people experienced physical healing. 

Father Smith also was active in promoting peace and nonviolence, and regularly attended gatherings that promoted these concepts of Catholic social justice. Marty Roers, who works in social justice with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, said Father Smith had a “long love, commitment, passion and dedication to peace and nonviolence. He was very beloved and active in the peace community.” 

A visitation for Father Smith will be 4-8 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of St. Thomas, with a vigil service at 7. The funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m. Sept. 16 at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, with a visitation at 8 a.m. Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights.