Current Ministry Location: Maryknoll Sisters Center-Maryknoll, NY

Sister Cecile, from Washington, D.C., entered Maryknoll in 1945. She had already earned a B.A. in French and a teacher’s certificate from Immaculate College in Immaculata, Pennsylvania.

Sister Cecile moved to Hawaii in 1949. She taught social studies, art, and music in an elementary school until 1974. She also coordinated religious and mission education programs, did pastoral work, and worked in the Peace Education Program, which teaches peace and nonviolence to children.

Sister Cecile, after teaching for 43 years, started a new project in 1991, Walking with Women. The project helped women who lived in prison and in shelters. She also wanted to do something to help women involved in the sex industry, and she began advocating for women’s rights and helped women to empower themselves. Sister Cecile was also involved in community action programs such as senior day care and a shelter for abused women and children.

Sister Cecile moved to the Maryknoll Sisters Retirement Center in Monrovia, California, in 1999. She continued to educate people, helping with an adult literacy program, mentoring at a local school, and teaching piano to local children.

In 2006, Sister Cecile returned to Maryknoll, NY, where she shares her spirituality by writing poetry and though her prayer ministry for the central Pacific.