Emma Cecilia Busam was born on July 27, 1921, to Mary Cecilia Bryan Busam and John William Busam Sr., at their home at 316 East 7th Street in Owensboro, Ky. Rev. Boniface Benkert, OSB, baptized her on August 7, 1921, in St. Joseph Church on Fourth Street. She received her First Holy Communion on June 5, 1927, and was confirmed by Bishop Floersh on May 11, 1930, taking Saint Philomena as her Confirmation name. She attended St. Joseph School in Owensboro and was taught by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph.
Emma Cecilia was fourth in a family of five children. Rachel, who died at birth, Rachel Agnes Eugenia, John William, Jr., Emma Cecilia and Mary Agnes. Emma Cecilia attended St. Joseph Grade School and High School and graduated on June 9, 1939, along with 17 other classmates.
After working at Ken-Rad for three years and playing trumpet with the Ken-Rad Tubadores, she entered the postulancy at Mount Saint Joseph on September 7, 1942, and was one of a class of nine. In 1943, the group became novices, and she now became Sister Emma Cecilia Busam.
On August 15, 1945, she made temporary vows and on August 15, 1948, she made her final vows. Sister’s teaching experiences lasted for 47 years and included all grades, high school and college. Her education included a bachelor’s degree in history from Brescia College, a bachelor’s degree in art from the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Ind., in 1960 and a master’s degree in art from the University of Notre Dame. She held five different Kentucky teaching certificates and obtained certification as an archivist.
From 1983 to 2001, Sister Emma Cecilia served as Director of Archives for the Mount Saint Joseph Community. She then became the Director of Archives for the Diocese of Owensboro. After a sabbatical in 1999-2000, she began volunteering to take communion to Owensboro Regional Health Hospital. From 2011 to 2017, she served as assistant to the Archivist at the Mount and was consultant to many other religious community archives. She retired in January of 2018.
Sister Emma Cecilia died on December 14, 2018. The Funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 18, 2018, in the Motherhouse Chapel. Burial was in the Convent cemetery.