Maryknoll Sisters

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Cecilia LeBlanc died on April 17, 2025 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY. She was 101 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 82 years.

On April 9, 1924, Cecilia Mabel LeBlanc was born in Boston, MA to Alfred and Catherine MacEachern LeBlanc.  She had one brother and one sister; all have predeceased her.  Four nieces survive her.

From 1939 to 1943, Sister Cecilia attended St. Patrick’s High School in Roxbury, MA.   She entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, NY on September 7, 1943 from her parish, St. Patrick.  She pronounced her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1946 in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on March 7, 1949 in Monrovia, CA.

She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education in 1969 from Mary Rogers College, Maryknoll, NY.  She then attended State University College at New Paltz, NY, earning a Master of Arts degree in English Literature in 1971.

In 1947, her first assignment was to the Maryknoll seminary kitchen in Ossining, NY for one year, followed by another year in the seminary kitchen in Mountain View at Los Altos, CA.  Her next assignment in 1948 was to the Maryknoll Sisters TB hospital ran in Monrovia, California, where she would help to prepare meals for very sick people for the next nine years.

Cecilia’s first mission in 1957 was to Kowak, Tanzania where her primary assignment was to study the Luo language.  She was also engaged in pastoral ministry and she lost no time in visiting the villages to meet the people to introduce herself.  It was an experience that left a major impact on her life as assuredly as it did on the people she had met and served.

Equipped with her degrees, Cecilia’s next assignment in 1971 was to the all-boys Isoka Secondary School in Zambia.  She taught third year high school and was also responsible for the overall academic scheduling.  She loved the ministry, but Cecilia’s time at Isoka would be short-lived as she needed to return to the United States in 1973 for medical reasons.

Two years later, in 1975, she applied to transfer to the Eastern United States Region. She had originally intended to return to Africa, but for family and personal reasons, she decided instead that it would be better for her to remain in the States.

For the next thirty-eight years of her active life, from 1975 until she came to the Chi Rho Community at Maryknoll, NY in 2013, Cecilia gave her all to make God’s love visible in New Hampshire, in Connecticut, and in the myriad ways in which she participated in the Eastern U.S. Region, as well as in the wider congregation. She taught in several schools and received high praise for her poise, her sense of humor, empathy, enthusiasm, and dedication. In 1987, she branched out, tutoring inmates for their GED at the Belknap County Jail and teaching English as a Second Language to Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants.

Throughout her teaching years, she challenged herself, taking workshops or seminars in Developmental Disabilities and Working with Parents of Children with Disabilities. From 1988-2004, she served as the Receptionist/Secretary for the New Hampshire Catholic Charities, a course in computer skills became a necessity. In the early 1990s, to prepare well for her volunteer ministry with older people and for her time in Family Ministry in 1994, she took courses on Current Issues in Aging and Gerontology.

Having begun her mission life in pastoral ministry in Tanzania, she brought her active mission life full circle in the EUS Region serving on Pastoral Councils, as a Eucharistic Minister at Assisted Living and Retirement Homes, reaching out to the Homebound, being active in RCIA, Bible Study Groups and in Bereavement Ministry.

In 2013, Cecilia returned to Maryknoll, NY contributing to the Chi Rho Community. The EUS Region sent Cecilia with their blessing, endorsing her as a gentle, creative, and thoughtful member who would be greatly missed and who would be a great blessing to the Community. She continued to share her many talents as long as she could, serving as a member of the Home Care Chapel Liturgical Music Team until 2019.

Funeral Services:

A Vespers Service was held for Sister Cecilia LeBlanc on May 8, 2025 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Memorial Mass was held on May 9, 2025 at 10:00 A.M. at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

Maryknoll, NY: Sister Nuncia St. Pierre died on April 7, 2025 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY. She was 96 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 79 years.

On August 4, 1928 Nuncia Rose St. Pierre was born in Baton Rouge, LA to Rose Compagne and Paul E. St Pierre.  She had two brothers and two sisters; her brother Albert and her nieces and nephew survive her.

From 1942-1946 Sister Nuncia attended St Joseph’s Academy, Baton Rouge LA.   She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing at the University of Seattle School of Nursing Providence Hospital in 1953 in Seattle.  She entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, NY on October 5, 1946 from St. Agnes Parish, Baton Rouge, LA.  She pronounced her First Profession of Vows on April 6, 1949 in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on April 6, 1952 in Seattle, WA.

In 1953, she received her first mission assignment to Tanganyika, East Africa.  She was assigned to Kowak, Musoma Diocese. This was the first foundation of Maryknoll Sisters in Africa. Here she did medical work, learned Kiswahili and some medical terms in the local language.  She also studied midwifery from Maryknoll Sister, Mary Reese.  Not long after arrival, Nuncia was assigned to Nyegina Mission Dispensary from 1953 to 1958.   In 1959 she was at the Rosanna Mission Dispensary where she ran the Maternal Child Clinic along with clinic services to the villages around the mission she served this mission until 1974.

Nuncia returned to Maryknoll, NY in 1974 for congregational services to Bethany Health Service Home. She was there for two years caring for the older and sick sisters.  In 1976 she was assigned to Shinyanga Diocese, Mwamapalala Mission dispensary Mary Mahoney Clinic.  She was able to do outreach for Maternal Child Health in a very rural area where there were no facilities or hospitals.

In 1979, Nuncia took some courses at Maryknoll School of Theology along with assisting in the Housekeeping department. She also took a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) Program at Central Islip, NY. She had a great desire to do some pastoral ministry when she returned to Tanzania. This came true in 1981 when she returned to Tanzania.   She was welcomed to join a pastoral team in Chanjale Parish Same/Moshi Diocese.

In 1985, Nuncia took her renewal and volunteered as a nurse at the center in the Congregation Health Unit. Here she was able to assist the sisters who came back from mission and those living at the Center with their health needs.  In 1987, she returned to Musoma once again and worked at the Makoko Family Center Clinic. The Center had courses for the families. They would come for one month of study in scripture, spirituality and family life. Nuncia would look after their health needs.

In 1995, Nuncia recognized that her strength was waning and asked to be sent to the World Section House in Nairobi, Kenya, where she could be of assistance to sisters coming and going for medical appointments or rest.

In 1996 Sister returned to Maryknoll, NY due to failing health.  After a short stay at the Center she requested to be assigned to Monrovia, CA in 1997.  Here she did volunteer work.  In 2011 Sister Nuncia was assigned to the Chi Rho Community at Maryknoll Sisters Center NY and then to the Eden Community in 2021 where she took part fully in the community activities.  She loved to tell stories; she had a wonderful memory and a keen sense of history.

Funeral Services:

A Vespers Service was held on May 5, 2025 for Sister Nuncia St. Pierre at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Mass of Resurrection was held on May 6, 2025 at 10:00 A.M. at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.

Maryknoll, NY:

Sister Patricia Redmond died on April 3, 2025 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY. She was 93 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 75 years.

On January 24, 1932, Cecelia Joyce Redmond was born in Cincinnati, OH to Elizabeth True Redmond and Matthew Redmond.  She had one brother, James; her niece, Jill Buschmann, survives her.

From 1945 -1949, Sister Pat attended Seton High School in Cincinnati.   She studied for one semester in Mt. St. Joseph College leaving in February 1950.  Sister Pat received her Bachelor of Education from Maryknoll Teachers College in 1955.

She entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, NY on September 6, 1950 from Holy Family parish in Cincinnati. She pronounced her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1953 in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on March 7, 1959 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Sister Pat was assigned to Bolivia to study Spanish in Cochabamba before beginning her years of teaching and leadership in various schools in Lima (1956), Montero (1959), and Cochabamba (1962). She was an exceptionally creative teacher and a wise and kind principal.  In 1970, she was assigned to Colonia Hardeman, a village of people who were relocated because of flooding.

In January 1984, Sister Pat returned to the States for her leadership skills, first in the Office of Social Concerns, then service on the Central Governing Board as General Secretary. Her precise mind and attention to detail was a source of amazement.  She was wise and compassionate and could defuse tension with humor, or even a clever cartoon.\

When her term ended in 1991, Sister Pat moved on to a new and exciting assignment in Papua, New Guinea with Sisters Peggy Dawson and Helen Gleason in Vanimo, Papua.  It was a challenging and rewarding mission–pastoral work, vocational training and pre-school classes. Theological issues with the Bishop, and the age and health of the sisters ended the mission in 1995.

Called again to the Latin world, Pat returned in 1996 to pastoral work and women’s formation in Guatemala until her return to the Center in 2006. For a time, she worked in Creative Productions in the development department. However, gradually, Pat’s fine mind moved into the illness that brought her to the Eden community in June 2012.

Even though Pat has left us, her art and her humor and her calligraphy remain with us—from bumper stickers about HIV-AIDS in Guatemala, to many signs and names around this house.   We remember too, with varying degrees of affection, that she loved animals and connected with them, especially cats!

Funeral Services:

A Vespers Service will be held for Sister Patricia Redmon on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 10:00 A.M. at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.