Florida Catholic | Obituary :: Haley Michele Smith

OBITUARY

Haley Michele Smith, 9

The brave fourth-grader loses her battle with brain cancer.

Published: 01.18.08

PALM BAY | Haley Michele Smith, a 9-year-old fourth-grader at St. Joseph Catholic School whose battle with incurable brain cancer touched the hearts of many Florida Catholic readers, died Dec. 19, 2007.

Valiant through the end of her nine-month fight, Haley completed her schoolwork for the semester before she died, said Anna Adam, principal of the Palm Bay school.

“She just loved school — everything about it — and we learned so much from her,” Adam said.

Adam and Father Robert Hoeffner, pastor, visited each classroom to announce Haley’s death and to pray with the children, who spent the remainder of the afternoon writing letters and drawing pictures. Many of the letters told Haley not to worry about her younger brother, Drew, because her schoolmates would be brothers and sisters to him. Some of the pictures showed Haley trapped in her body here on earth, but up in the sky dancing and doing the gymnastics she loved.

Adam marveled, “They expressed everything that we teach. Their faith is so strong that we got our strength from them. We’re a Catholic school and we live our beliefs.”

Father Hoeffner presided at a memorial service for Haley on the morning of Dec. 20 with all the school grades and Haley’s family present. A lasting memorial will be decided in the near future.

The Florida Catholic told Haley’s story in the March 23-29, 2007, Orlando edition.

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OBITUARY

Haley Michele Smith, 9

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