Della, one of eight children of Joseph Matthew and Anna Marie Logsdon Smith, was born September 8, 1899 at Springfield, Ky. Her faith journey began with baptism at St. Rose Church on October 10, 1899. Her mother died when Della was 13 years old, and as the older children were grown and settled, only the two youngest were left to cook, clean and run the house. Della was a tomboy who would rather ride horses and climb trees, but accepted the new responsibility cheerfully. In September 1907, she began her formal education at St. Francis Xavier School, Raywick. While still in high school, after her mother’s death, she decided to “become a sister.”
On July 15, 1917, Della entered the novitiate Mount Saint Joseph. On November 28, 1917, she was invested in the Ursuline habit and received the name Sister Mary Raymond. She completed the requirements for high school during the novitiate and received a diploma from Mount Saint Joseph Academy.
In September 1918, Sister was assigned to teach first and second grades at St. Peter School, Waverly, Ky., where she remained eight years. Other assignments, during the 49 years she spent in the primary grade classroom, were in Kentucky in Louisville (St. Paul and St. Columba), Shively, Knottsville, Bardwell and Vine Grove, along with Nebraska City, Neb. Sister Mary Raymond, though very small in stature, was a powerfully kind disciplinarian and an extremely successful teacher in primary grades for 49 years. Watching a little child learn to “read, write, say their prayers and do numbers” was the joy of her life.
Because of severe hearing loss and failing health, Sister retired to the Motherhouse in 1975. She and Sister Mary Clara Floyd, a classmate who was also retired, were very close friends, almost inseparable, until Sister Mary Clara’s death in April 1996. Sister Mary Raymond celebrated her 100th birthday in 1999. During the last few years, she also lost her sight but was aware of people and would offer to shake hands with any who came near.
Sister Mary Raymond died quietly in the early morning hours of Wednesday, February 20, 2002, at age 102, in her 84th year of religious life. The wake service was held Friday evening. Father Joseph Mills, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass on Saturday morning, February 23. Sister Mary Raymond’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.