Numerous Holy Cross Brothers have exerted a positive influence
over the years by their vowed commitment to God in Holy Cross, motivated to influence people’s lives through their special talents, inspirations and interests. One who has had an unusual impact within and outside Holy Cross is Br. Roy Smith, C.S.C.
A new provincial superior elected in 1979 sought the advice of counselors as to whom he might choose to assist him as director of province personnel. One brother replied, “I can think of no one more person-oriented than Br. Roy.” The provincial asked Br. Roy’s cooperation and he gave it generously for the next six years, though it interrupted his increasingly effective career in social work.
Besides successfully handling the demands of his office, Br. Roy was supportive of the provincial’s program and was his close friend and counselor at all times.
Personable, an extravert, and a former all-state high school athlete, Br. Roy attracts others readily and puts them immediately at ease. His smile and contagious laughter are honest responses to the inner joy he possesses and radiates. Deferential as he habitually is, Br. Roy nevertheless exhibits such basic sincerity and integrity–qualities natural to the large and remarkable family of the late Archie and Bettie Smith of Indianapolis–that he cannot but oppose anything he judges less than wholly prudent and proper. He counsels respectfully but clearly, leaving no doubt as to his opinion. He brings his perceptiveness with him wherever he serves, applying it effortlessly to the refined development of rich human relationships that comprises the essence of his ministry.
Prior to his term as personnel director, he taught for two years at St. Joseph’s High School in South Bend. Considering the relative brevity of that assignment, one is amazed how many of his former colleagues and students stop him on the street when he visits South Bend, and display the obvious affection in which they still hold him.
His interest in social work led him from South Bend to Milwaukee, where for 11 years he prefected and counseled at St. Charles Boys’ Home, Wauwatosa, while earning his masters in social work from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He had hardly begun settling into yet another assignment, Boysville of Michigan in Macon, Michigan, that he was tapped for the new provincial administration. He was immediately missed at Boysville. How difficult it must have been for him to leave there, even though it was the provincial who called upon his help.
Before completing his term as personnel director for the Midwest Province, Br. Roy earned an A.C.S.W. certificate, a sought-after professional addition to the M.S.W. He also prepared to do counseling at the diocesan branch of Catholic Charities in South Bend.
While personnel director he had become and remained actively involved in African-American affairs in the South Bend area. He participated in St. Augustine’s parish and was an adviser and volunteer for youth groups and other organizations. To his Holy Cross community life he added these and other personally and socially important and enriching engagements.
When the directorship of the South Bend office of Catholic Charities opened up, Br. Roy applied and was hired. He held that position for several years, then relinquished it to devote full time to development and public relations for the agency, this being his strong suit, especially among local services, businesses and industry. After eleven years at Catholic Charities, Br. Roy was asked to return to province ministry.
He took a counseling position in Chicago at the brothers’ near northwest side school, Holy Trinity, where he has recently completed his fourth year.
Many areas of the Midwest, not to mention numberless individuals in need, have felt the direct and significant influence of Br. Roy’s personality and his effective counseling and administration. It is impossible for him not to attract the excited greetings of those he inevitably encounters everywhere, persons young and old whom he has served in some way or with whom he shared simple but loyal friendship and unstinting generosity, whatever the personal cost. On that point, Br. Roy’s days–and sometimes nights–were controlled more by the never-ending needs of others, including Eastern European and Middle Eastern refugees than by himself or by any calendar, clock or weather conditions. As for his unflagging reluctance to alter his style, one ultimately comes to understand that his devotion to those in need and to friends and fellow religious is precisely the manner of being a prophetic witness to God’s presence that energizes Br. Roy, and his dedicated life constitutes a valuable lesson to everyone as to what commitment means and the willing sacrifices it entails.
If any Holy Cross religious visibly exemplifies who brothers are and what they do, offering a clear and undistorted image of the definition of the title brother, it has to be Br. Roy.
