Sister Cecelia (birth name Vivian) was born on June 26, 1918 in Epping, ND to her parents Leona Mary (Benoit) and John Godfrey Vandeberg. She joined her brother, John Joseph (Harvey) and sister, Kathryn Irene (both deceased). Her childhood was spent on a farm and in Epping public schools until her last year in high school when she attended St. Mary’s High School in Great Falls after her family moved to Montana because of the drought.
After high school graduation in 1936, she worked for a year and then entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary where she received her religious habit and name Cecelia. Sister Cecelia graduated magna cum laude in 1941 from Siena Heights College in Adrian, Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, thereafter, attending numerous music institutes through her lifetime. Her music ministry began at Great Falls’ St. Anne’s Cathedral where she played organ and resided at the Sacred Heart Convent. She conducted girls’ choirs, taught music at St. Mary’s High School and Grade School as well as private piano lessons to as many as sixty students weekly in her small music studio at Sacred Heart Convent. Her music ministry also took her to Illinois (St. Pius X School of Rock Island), Lewistown (St. Leo School), and Saints Peter and Paul School in Great Falls.
After retiring from teaching in the classroom, Sister took care of her elderly mother for eight years. During this time, she attended Our Lady of Lourdes where she played the organ, directed the choir and taught a fifth-grade music class. For many years, Diocese of Great Falls hired Sister Cecelia to distribute Holy Communion to Catholic patients at Benefis East Hospital. She also enjoyed entertaining the nursing home residents with her piano playing.
In 2012, at 94 years old, Sister Cecelia moved to her Motherhouse, the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport, Iowa delighting all with her vivacious spirit and unfaltering zest for life. She attended Legion of Mary meetings, exercised daily, brought communion to Catholics in nursing homes and made a daily holy hour every afternoon in the chapel. She visited long term care facilities with encouraging words and prayers until shortly before her death.
Sister loved people of all faiths or nationalities, owning a deep sense of gratitude for life. She often enjoyed playing cards games and board games which she did with a fierce competitive approach rivaled only by her joyful sense of humor. Her characteristic, infectious chuckle would make any bystander smile. Although dubbed the “Nun on the Go”, she always took time to listen and pray with others.
Sister Cecelia Vandeberg (Mary Cecelia), 101, died at Humility of Mary Center, Davenport, Iowa on October 26, 2019. Interment services for Sister Cecelia’s ashes of cremation were held at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Great Falls in the Columbarium on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 11 a.m. Father Dick Schlosser conducted the service.
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