Mary Rose Patricia Ann Muller was born March 2, 1923, in Louisville, Ky. She was the only daughter among four sons of Joseph Nicholas and Cecelia Aloysius Ballman Muller. Her home life was special as the family spent time together making candy, playing cards and listening to good music.
In 1929, Patricia attended Hazelwood Elementary School and later transferred to Holy Name Elementary School. She completed her high school education at Presentation Academy. After high school graduation, she attended Nazareth School of Nursing through SS. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital. She completed the course of study and passed the State Board of Nursing in 1944.
Patricia’s parents died in 1943. She was left without their support and advice regarding a career in nursing. Although World War II was in progress and the need for nurses pressing, she was deeply inspired by one of her patients, Sister Mary Bertha Wethington, an Ursuline of Mount Saint Joseph. This relationship was the beginning of Patricia’s discernment of a call to religious life as an Ursuline. On February 2, 1945, she entered the novitiate of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. She knew that the Ursulines were a teaching order meaning, in all probability, that she would have to give up nursing. She asked for the name Joseph Cecelia, a combination of her father and her mother’s names. August 14, 1945, she received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Joseph Cecelia.
After temporary profession in 1947, she taught upper elementary grades in Farmington, N.M., and Sorgho, Paducah (St. Thomas More) and New Haven, Ky. When the need for a registered nurse at the Motherhouse infirmary arose in 1955, Sister took refresher courses at SS. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital and Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville. In January 1956, she became the administrator and head nurse of the Motherhouse infirmary. During the 23 years Sister Joseph Cecelia served as infirmarian she assisted at the bedside of 123 Sisters as they were dying. In November 1979, she retired though continued to serve as consultant to the nursing staff. She resided alone in a small house on campus, delighting in the time for quiet prayer and freedom from stress. She shared the fruits from a small vegetable and flower garden she tended in the backyard and created beautiful needlework, including quilting. She continued these activities as long as her health permitted.
December 15, 1996, Sister Joseph Cecelia suffered a broken hip and wrist from a fall. From that point on, various health concerns surfaced and she moved to the infirmary. She watched with genuine excitement as a new health facility was being constructed. She was among the first occupants of Saint Joseph Villa, grateful for the opportunity to share in the reality she had dreamed of for so long. She was especially pleased to be close to the Blessed Sacrament in the Prayer Room just a few doors down from her.
Monday evening, March 17, 2003, she suffered a fatal heart attack at the supper table. Father Joseph Mills celebrated the funeral Mass on Thursday morning March 20, 2003, followed by the burial service in the convent cemetery.