Smallwood, summing up a key aspect of his service as an usher, laughed and said, “Say ‘hello’ to people and smile.*This dates Registry from 1758 and briefly writes about the history of the Black Church in America. Reflecting on his years as an usher, Smallwood said, “I just enjoyed meeting people and talking to people.”Īt that early Mass, ushers don’t need to help people find a pew to sit in, but they take up the collection, give out parish bulletins, and stand beside pews as the rows of people take their turn to go up to Communion. Augustine Parish, George Smallwood has also sung in the Chorale there, assisted packing food for Catholic Charities’ SHARE Food Network, and volunteered at the SOME (So Others Might Eat) soup kitchen, helping prepare meals. In addition to serving as an usher at St. 6, 2022 Mass where he was honored were, at left, his daughter-in-law Francine Smallwood second from right, his son Keith Bernard Smallwood, and at right, George Smallwood’s granddaughter, Kazmir Smallwood. Washington Minister of Hospitality Memorial Length of Service Award. Augustine Parish in Washington for serving as an usher there for 50 years. Smallwood, second from left, was recently honored by St. “I liked the teachers and the children, and of course keeping the buildings clean. Over the years, George Smallwood worked at DC Teachers College, Cleveland Elementary School and Bunker Hill Elementary School in Washington. Augustine Parish, he attended Masses at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, and he and his wife Ladeane had one son, Keith Bernard Smallwood. in 1958, and began a long career as a custodian and engineer for D.C. His friends and fellow Black Catholics there included the younger siblings in the Somerville family, whose older brothers, Deacons Joseph, John and James Somerville, were ordained as deacons for the Catholic Church in 1981 and were believed to be the first set of three brothers to achieve that distinction.Īfter working on a Leonardtown farm as a young man, where he helped milk cows and chopped and stripped tobacco, George Smallwood moved to Washington, D.C. Joseph Church, and he said that when he was a teenager there, he helped carry the cross at Funeral Masses. Smallwood was baptized, received his First Holy Communion and his sacrament of Confirmation at St. Joseph’s had separate parish schools for white and Black children on its grounds. Mary’s County, even at Catholic parishes, St. In those days when segregation was still an established practice in St. Joseph Church from his family home, and he also walked to St. His mother, Emma Smallwood, worked as a housekeeper, and his father Nelson Smallwood worked as a cook in restaurants in Leonardtown.Īs a youth, George Smallwood – who was born in 1933 – walked two to three miles to St. She was very religious,” he said, noting that his family has been Catholic for generations. “I always liked the early Mass, from (when I was) a young child, I’d go to early Mass. He grew up in Loveville, Maryland, where he began attending early Masses at his home parish, St. That habit of arising early and going to the early Mass began in Smallwood’s boyhood in Southern Maryland. Sunday mornings, and unlocks and opens the church. He also expressed gratitude for the usher’s “kindness and friendship to me as the pastor.”įather Smith noted that Smallwood usually shows up at 6 a.m. I’m very proud of him and very grateful for his service,” the priest said. “You only have one opportunity to make a first impression, and for the last 50 years, George has made a great impression for those who’ve come to St. Smallwood has served as an usher at the 8 a.m. Augustine’s pastor, praised Smallwood for his years of faithful service there. In an interview later that morning, Father Patrick Smith, St. resident said, “I’m not one to move around too much, so when I go and I like it, I just stay.” Augustine, the mother church for Black Catholics in the nation’s capital that was founded in 1858, the D.C. Asked about his decades of service at St. Two weeks after receiving his honor, Smallwood was interviewed after Sunday Mass by the Catholic Standard newspaper of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Washington Minister of Hospitality Memorial Length of Service Award,” named for another longtime parish usher who received the inaugural award 10 years earlier. 6, Smallwood was presented a plaque and honored with the parish’s “James S. Smallwood, who is now 88, said, “Being at church on time and being kind to people, that’s all. Smallwood was asked if he had any tips for being a good usher at Mass. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., George B. Recently honored for serving for the past 50 years as an usher at St.
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