Sister Bonita Smith, known simply as Sister Bonita to thousands of boys and girls and their parents, retired June 30 as principal of St. Elizabeth Regional School. Her career in education has spanned 57 years, with 18 years at the helm of the Fullerton school.

As accolades have been bestowed on Sister Bonita by the parish, school faculty, families and government officials, the retiring principal is most proud of advancing the parochial elementary school children with a progressive curriculum and “having the boys and girls grow in their faith,” Sister Bonita said.

In many ways, Sister Bonita’s retirement is bittersweet; she is the last of nuns at the school. She is a member of Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic Community, and there is no nun in the wings to replace Sister Bonita at St. Elizabeth Regional School. Although lay teachers have staffed the school for many years, as nuns were not plentiful, the school for years had a nun as principal.

“I’ve come full circle,” Sister Bonita said, “I began at the Sisters of Mercy, RSM, convent at Merion, Pa., and that is where I am going on retirement.”

Looking back, Sister Bonita said the school has more than kept the pace in technology, computer labs, curriculum advances in meeting and exceeding state standards, and keeping the Catholic faith foremost. But “it will be the boys and girls I will really miss,” Sister Bonita said on retiring, specifically remembering greeting them as they came to the school in the morning and upon leaving in the afternoon.

A graduate of Allentown Central Catholic High School, Sister Bonita earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Gwynedd Mercy University and a master’s degree from Saint Bonaventure University. She taught as a lay teacher at Saints Simon & Jude School before entering the Sisters of Mercy in 1963.

Teaching for several years in the Catholic education field, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Diocese of Allentown, Sister Bonita became principal at Saint Philip Neri School, East Greenville, before being assigned as principal at St. Elizabeth in 1998.

While not having any definite plans upon retiring, Sister Bonita said, “Volunteering seems likely.”