[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 26, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E852-E853]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING REBECCA A. SMITH OF THE CAPITAL GAZETTE
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HON. JOHN P. SARBANES
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an obituary of
Rebecca A. Smith, an advertising assistant for the Capital Gazette in
Annapolis, Maryland.
[From the Baltimore Sun]
Rebecca A. Smith, Capital Gazette Advertising Assistant Who Held Family
and Friends at Center of Her Life
(By Frederick N. Rasmussen)
Rebecca Ann Smith made sure family, friends and workplace
colleagues were the center of her life. They brought her joy,
and those who knew her say she returned it abundantly.
``Everyone loved her,'' said a cousin, Tammy Kaskel of
Dundalk. ``Becca was always patient, supportive and never
jealous or envious. She'd do anything for anybody and didn't
have a mean bone in her body.''
``She had such promise in life,'' said an uncle, Thomas A.
Malinowski. ``She was a good kid and never got into
trouble.''
Ms. Smith, who worked as an advertising sales assistant for
the Capital Gazette, lost her life in the June 28 attack on
the newspaper's Annapolis office. She was 34 and lived in
Dundalk.
Ms. Smith was born in Baltimore and raised in North Point
Village and later Fort Howard.
The daughter of Richard Smith and Beth Ann Malinowski, she
was raised by her maternal grandparents, William Malinowski,
a driver for County Ride, and Catherine Malinowski, a
homemaker.
``I was very young then. I don't know what I would have
done without them,'' said her mother, now Beth Rittenour, of
Warren, Ohio. ``Rebecca was such a beautiful person, and
she'll always be in my heart forever.''
Ms. Smith attended Battle Grove Elementary School and
graduated in 2001 from Sparrows Point High School, where she
excelled in field hockey, ran cross country and was an avid
duckpin bowler.
``She also loved community theater and played the character
A Star to Be in `Annie.' She was in middle school then,''
said Ms. Kaskel, who conducts a performing arts camp and
works with special-needs children. ``She had such a great
voice, was very supportive, and wanted to see others
succeed.''
Mr. Malinowski, who also lives in Dundalk, recalled his
niece being a Pink Floyd fan when she was little. ``I'd put
on a Pink Floyd tape and she'd scoot her chair up to the
TV.''
He said she also enjoyed camping.
``She always wanted to go with me,'' he said. ``I'd take
the neighborhood kids and other nieces and nephews, and we
had a lot of fun.''
``Our grandparents were very proud of Becca because she was
the first person in our family to go to college,'' Ms. Kaskel
said. ``She was a graduate of Villa Julie College, where she
earned a degree in marketing.''
Ms. Smith held marketing positions with Press Box and the
old Maryland General Hospital--now the University of Maryland
Medical Center Midtown Campus--before joining the Capital
Gazette last November as an advertising assistant.
``I found her to be a person of tremendous potential, and
it is sad that we will never see her live up to that,'' said
Marty Padden, the newspaper's advertising director. ``We're
just heart-broken.''
Ms. Smith suffered from endometriosis, a tissue disorder,
and referred to herself on Facebook as an ``Endo Warrior.''
``It was very debilitating, but she still came to the
office and soldiered on through it,'' Mr. Padden said. ``She
had a great sense of humor and was so charming.''
Ms. Smith met and fell in love with Dewayne Poling, and
they were engaged to be married. On Facebook, she called him
her ``softball fiance'' and attended Mr. Poling's games and
traveled to team tournaments. She also wrote of Mr. Poling's
daughter from an earlier relationship as being ``the best kid
ever.''
``Becca wanted to get married and have her own family,''
Ms. Kaskel said. ``When she met Dewayne, he was what she had
been waiting for.''
Kelli Peleska of Hanover, who played softball with Mr.
Poling, told The Baltimore Sun in a June 28 interview that
Ms. Smith had ``the biggest heart.''
``Not only was Rebecca our advertising assistant, she grew
to become a close friend of mine,'' said Eleni Stylianou, a
colleague who lives in Annapolis. ``She was always so sweet
and willing to help. She was a loving future stepmother to
her fiance's daughter.''
``She was always talking about her fiance's daughter, about
moving and her medical issues. We talked every day,'' said
close friend Selene San Felice of Baltimore, a Capital
Gazette reporter who survived the shooting. ``Rebecca was
strong--that's the first word that comes to mind, and she was
so kind.''
Her grandmother died in 2004 and her grandfather in 2011.
She was ``devastated,'' Mr. Malinowski said. ``It hit her
real hard.''
Ms. Kaskel said she continually returned to the center
point of her life: her family.
``She was always there at family events, and always had
been involved with my children, who are now grown,'' she
said. ``She was godmother to my two daughters.
``She'd go to their dance recitals; you would never
expected her not to be there,'' Ms. Kaskel said. ``She'd be
there Christmas Eve and Christmas morning to watch my kids
open their gifts.''
A visitation for Ms. Smith will be held from 2 p.m. to 4
p.m. Sunday at the Duda-Ruck Funeral Home, 7922 Wise Ave.,
Dundalk, and again from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., with a memorial
service following.
In addition to her parents, uncle, cousin and fiance, Ms.
Smith is survived by another uncle, William Malinowski of
Essex; a brother, Steven Rittenour of Fredericksburg, Va.;
two sisters, Jamie Rittenour of Warren Ohio, and Cindy
Rittenour, also of Fredericksburg; and numerous other
cousins.
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