Katherine B. Smith, veteran Baltimore County elementary school educator, dies

Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun
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Katherine B. Smith, a veteran Baltimore County public schools elementary school educator and assistant principal who was a deer whisperer, died in her sleep Dec. 15 at Sunrise Senior Living in Silver Spring. The longtime Timonium resident was 89.

Katherine Susan Bradley, the only child of Earl Bradley, a farmer and truck driver, and his wife, Alice Bessie Collins Bradley, a schoolteacher, was born and raised in Federalsburg, where she graduated in 1952 from what is today Colonel Richardson High School.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1956 from the old Towson State Teachers College, now Towson University. She also held master’s degrees in education from Towson and the Johns Hopkins University.

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Mrs. Smith began teaching elementary students in 1956 at the old Lida Lee Tall School that was located on the campus of Towson University.

Subsequent teaching assignments were at Lutherville Elementary, Pinewood Elementary, Stoneleigh Elementary and Villa Cresta Elementary schools.

Mrs. Smith ended her career in 1994 at Pot Spring Elementary School in Lutherville, where she was assistant principal for several years.

“She pioneered parent participation in the classroom, cooperative-model schools, open space classrooms and peer teaching,” a daughter, Dawn Marie Smith Christerson, of Takoma Park, said in her mother’s eulogy. “Despite her academic focus, her true goal as a teacher was deeply personal — that each child would leave at the end of the day feeling valued and proud of themselves.”

“She taught thousands of children over the years and they kept in touch with her,” said a son, Gare A. Smith, of Great Falls, Virginia. “She gave them a sense of self-worth and that they were valued. They’d write or call and let her know about their lives, careers and families.”

In 1956, she married William Gilmore “Gil” Smith, a fellow Baltimore County educator who taught science, and the couple settled in Timonium, where they raised their four children.

Mrs. Smith had been an active member of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Lutherville until the mid-1970s when she and her husband, who had taught Sunday school, sang in the choir and was a youth instructor, joined Towson United Methodist Church, where she taught in United Methodist Youth Fellowship, supported its Appalachian service project, and was active in the Camp Hope outreach program.

“She counseled youth in the church and helped those who may have had a drug problem. She counseled them in a nonjudgmental way,” her son said. “Her home was always open and everyone was welcome. If a teenager needed a place to stay, they were welcome.”

“Katherine loved her family, music, nature, and bringing light to the lives of those around her,” according to a biographical profile submitted by her family.

According to family members, Mrs. Smith played a mean harmonica at family jam sessions.

Gifted with a love of the outdoors and an adventurous spirit, Mrs. Smith enjoyed riding a motorcycle, liked to observe wildlife, and was something of a deer whisperer.

“She was an animal lover,” her son said. “The deer would come to her Timonium home in the morning and evening and she’d talk to them in a very soothing voice. She offered them a safe space and they’d even bring their fawns and show them to her. One deer would come and lay down near a tree when she was in the yard. They felt safe there.”

She shared her husband’s passion for the environment and monarch butterflies, which they raised and released. She also nursed wildlife back to health, family members said.

“They had butterfly cages in the yard and the adults would lay their eggs on milkweed, which is the only thing monarchs eat. They would then release them for their long journey which takes them from Canada to Mexico,” her son said. “They raised generations and generations of monarchs. In fact, Mom had a butterfly cage in her room at Sunrise.”

Mrs. Smith enjoyed family camping vacations and traveling the country in their recreational vehicle.

“When the camping cooler seemed empty to us, Mom would reenact the loaves and fishes story and create a hearty meal,” her daughter said in her eulogy.

About a year ago, Mrs. Smith moved to the Silver Spring retirement community where she “chose a lovely room with a nature view, which she named ‘my suite in the woods.’ She enjoyed watching the birds and the deer, as she had enjoyed from her backyard view at her Timonium home for 45 years,” her daughter said.

Funeral services were held at her church Dec. 27.

In addition to her son and daughter, Mrs. Smith is survived by another son, Dale Andrew Smith, of Timonium; a daughter, Karen Gay Smith Beam, of Fishers, Indiana; and seven grandchildren. Her husband died in 2019.