Sister Joyce Marie Cecil, 81, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, died July 14, 2026, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 62nd year of religious life. She was a native of New Hope, Ky. Her former religious name was Sister Lisa Marie.

Sister Joyce was a creative person who loved poetry and always enjoyed her time teaching young children. She was a teacher and parish minister, before turning her ministry to the Motherhouse. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Brescia College in 1968, and a master’s in education from Western Kentucky University in 1977.

She taught in Kentucky at St. Brigid School, Vine Grove (1968-71), St. Martin School, Rome (1971-74), St. Francis School, Loretto (1974-75), St. Leonard School, Louisville (1975-76), St. Alphonsus School, St. Joseph (1976-80), St. Christopher School, Radcliff (1980-83, 1986-88), and Christ the King School, Madisonville (1983-84). She also taught at Sacred Heart School, Poplar Bluff, Mo. (1984-85), Christo Rey School, Santa Fe, N.M. (1988-91) and St. Teresa School, Grants, N.M. (1991-94).

She became a parish minister at St. Teresa in Grants (1994-95), then at St. Pius X Parish, Calvert City, Ky., (1996-2003). She served in internal ministry at Maple Mount in later years, including as an activities assistant (2005-07), Retreat Center receptionist (2005-10), and assistant to the librarian (2010-17).

Survivors include the members of her religious community; her siblings Harold Cecil of Bon Aqua, Tenn., Bobby Cecil of Bardstown, Ky., Bernard Cecil of New Hope and Betty Mattingly, Ann Downs, Glenn Cecil, Louis Cecil and Patty McCauley, all of New Haven, Ky.; nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Earl and Mary Agnes Cecil.

The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 21, at Mount Saint Joseph, where visitation will begin Monday at 4 p.m., with a wake service following at 6:30 p.m.

Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory, Owensboro, is handling arrangements.

Donations in memory of Sister Joyce Marie may be made to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.

Wake Reflection

By Sister Sharon Sullivan, Congregational Leader

July 20, 2026

At midday on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, the Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, our Sister Joyce Marie finished her earthly journey, relaxing at last into the loving arms of her Lord.

This evening, as we honor the gift of her time among us, we will discover she has given us one more gift. Sister Joyce wrote extensively of her life and her thoughts, so it seems only fitting that – in large part – we will hear her words this evening. Most of what you hear will be her words, with occasional additions from records or others’ comments and reflections. Let us begin with Sister Joyce’s memories that she compiled about ten years ago. She wrote:

All the United States celebrated and rejoiced on the day of my birth, not for my entrance into the world, but Tuesday, May 8, 1945, would be remembered as VE (Victory in Europe) Day. My family, however, did rejoice at my birth and called me Joyce Marie Cecil (my Uncle Billy Cecil named me). I was born, midday, at 12:30 p.m., May 8, 1945. My parents were Mary Agnes Cecil and Earl Cecil, [I was] the fifth child of nine children.

I was born at home in Nelson County in the parish of Saint Vincent de Paul in New Hope, Kentucky. Four days later, on Saturday, May 12^th, I was baptized Mary Joyce Cecil. Father O’Shea refused to baptize me “Joyce” because it was not a saint’s name; so he put Mary as my patron.

It was in this church and through the faith of my parents that I received my longing for God and the desire to belong to Him. I grew up on a farm about two miles from the church, and about three miles from Gethsemani monastery. Living on a farm did much for my soul. Being close to the earth, growing food to eat and raising animals was a blessing. I am forever grateful for my life on the farm.

At her birth, Sister Joyce joined three brothers and one sister – Harold, Bobby, and Bernard, and Betty Jean – and in the years that followed came two more girls (Ann and Patty) and two more boys (Glenn and Louis); and with the nine children, the Cecil family was complete.

Sister Joyce always found joy in her family. In her “Annals” – our yearly report for our archives – she always featured her visits with and from her family and  how they enriched her life. So, to Sister Joyce’s brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews, we Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph offer our condolences, our love, and our gratitude that you shared with us one who was so dear to you.

Sister Joyce’s memories continued:

I remember fondly the years I lived as a child. We lived on the farm and I enjoyed helping with the farm life. We worked in the tobacco, helped with the hay, worked in the garden and all the other chores on a farm. Farm life gave us time to be together and this was important to me. I think that being on the farm helped foster my vocation. Being with nature naturally drew me to prayer. We lived simply but were very happy. My rural heritage became more precious to me each day.

As a family, we cleaned the church, worked at socials and picnics, and attended all the services that were offered. I remember the mantras of, “Never let me be separated from thee,” and “Grant that I may love you always, then do with me what thou wilt.” With this prayer and reading the Bible I began to walk in the contemplative way. I was being led by God himself, very gently.

On many occasions I witnessed and was part of Mom’s and Dad’s generosity to the people in our area. Mom would often say something like this, “Take a gallon of milk to Miss Ida, a bucket of strawberries to Louise, butter to the sisters, and get a jar of pickles for the insurance man” and many more. Also at Easter and Christmas, mom would take food to an invalid, Gertrude, and feed it to her, and also we visited two “old maids,” Addie and Nannie, and took them a nice meal. We were always serving meals to family on the weekends. Nearly every weekend. Family was important and sharing a meal was central. Like the Eucharist.

In the fall of 1950, when she was just five years old, Joyce Marie began her school years at Saint Vincent de Paul School, in New Hope. She would say, “I attended elementary school under the direction of the Sisters of Charity from Nazareth, Kentucky,” and that her teachers “radiated a love for God and others, (which was) part of the inspiration I needed to nurture the seed of a vocation in my heart. . . In the seventh grade (I heard) a vocation talk with the title: ‘Are you one of the generous ones?’ That phrase touched my heart and it encouraged the seed of my vocation to grow.”

Ready for high school, Sister Joyce wrote:

I went to high school at Saint Catherine High School in New Haven under the direction of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. The love and dedication of these teachers nurtured the seed of the desire to be a teacher. These teachers were wonderful, professional and personable. In my senior year, Sister Lennora Carrico, invited the girls to the Mount for a retreat. I attended and loved every minute of it.

One day I was walking out by the Gift Shop and I felt the Holy Spirit so very strongly and I heard inside of me, “This is it!” I knew then that I would be an Ursuline because I was on holy ground. . . I knew God would lead me. . . and I became a postulant the next year, [showing up at Mount Saint Joseph on a Saturday, September 7, 1963].

Soon, in fact the next August, Joyce Marie’s group of postulants would receive the habit on a Friday, the 14^th, becoming the Novitiate Class of 1964. Joyce Marie became, for the next fifty-two (52) years, Sister Lisa Marie, joining with her twenty other classmates. Of that storied group of twenty-one women, five remain Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph today; and to these five – Sister Mary Timothy Bland, Sister Karla Marie Kaelin, Sister Joan Riedley, Sister Laurita Spalding, and Sister Melissa Tipmore – we offer our prayers and our love as you mourn the passing and celebrate the life of your classmate, Sister Lisa Marie/Sister Joyce.

Sister Joyce would write of her Novitiate:

When I entered the Novitiate, Vatican II was just beginning to become a reality for us. Many things were beginning to change. We prayed our office in Latin, the priest said Mass with his back to the assembly. These were two of the major things that changed. I am grateful for this.

Our Novitiate was beginning to change from the old ways to the new. We took many years to change our directives because we were living by the Rule of Saint Augustine. (Our director), Sister Aloise, was wise and began formation with the new way of living. We were changing and all my life change was a way of life. She taught us to think for ourselves and to be leaders.

When I was ready to make vows, I told Mother Joseph Marian that I could not teach because I was so shy then. She wisely asked me if I loved children. I said an eager, “Yes!” She told me to prepare myself for teaching and, if, after two years, I did not like teaching, I could do something else.

Sister Lisa Marie/Sister Joyce soon made her first vows on Monday, August 15, 1966, then – possibly even the very next week – continued her classes at Brescia College. She studied for the next two years and earned her Baccalaureate Degree in Education in the spring of 1968.

In the fall of 1968, with the first graders at Saint Brigid School, in Vine Grove, Kentucky, Sister Lisa Marie/Sister Joyce began her teaching mission. For the next twenty-six years, she would teach grades one through three in Kentucky, Missouri, and New Mexico. She would share her expertise and love at ten schools: Saint Brigid, Saint Martin, Saint Francis, Saint Leonard, Saint Alphonsus, Saint Christopher, Christ the King, Sacred Heart, Cristo Rey, and Saint Teresa in Grants. Teaching was her love, as she would say so many times and in so many ways:

• I love it! It is a joy but also a great responsibility. It is a privilege to be able to share with God’s little ones.
• I do not use way-out strategies, but I am willing to try new ideas. . . I am excited about providing new opportunities for students.
• Teaching was one of the greatest experiences in my life. Teaching was joy to me.
• I was a teacher for 25 years and loved every minute of it, well almost!
• Teaching was a gift to me by God.
• I was my best self when I was teaching.
• I was creative in my teaching and tried to make learning fun. Sometimes we would be late for lunch because we were caught up in what we were doing. The kids loved learning and I loved teaching.

Principals, other teachers, and parents would say of Sister Lisa Marie/Sister Joyce:

• Upbeat!
• A Master Teacher!
• She is an outstanding and dedicated teacher, a major credit to the teaching profession.
• Innovative programs or ideas do not threaten her.
• She is a person that I rely on. . .

Sister Joyce would write later: “If there were no restrictions on my life I would teach in some capacity. I have always loved teaching.” But too soon her health difficulties became restrictions and Sister Joyce was compelled to leave the classroom At the going-away reception organized by the parents of her students in Grants, in recognition of the presence she brought to her classrooms, she was honored and given the Indian name of “Sunshine.”

For the next seven-to-eight years, Sister Lisa Marie served in parish ministry in some form at Saint Teresa Parish in Grants, New Mexico, and at Saint Pius X Parish in Calvert City, Kentucky. Sister Joyce would say of that time:

After (leaving the schools), I taught in a different way through RCIA, DRE, Liturgy of the Word with Children, Taking Communion to the Sick, walking with people on their journeys, [and becoming a Master Catechist]. This was new to me, but I loved being in the parish setting. Preparing those who wanted to join the church was a blessing.

God works in us in small and gentle ways. He leads us and guides us always if we answer his call.

After this my health [failed further], and I came to the Mount, where I have been a receptionist, a Librarian, and now part of the powerhouse of prayer. I take the powerhouse of prayer very seriously and believe that it makes a difference.

[She would soon inform the community that,] in preparation for traveling with my family [at the end of] 2016, I chose to return to my birth name and in April 2016 became Sister Joyce Marie.

Perhaps now in closing it would be well to share just a bit from a section in her memories that Sister Joyce called, “My Spiritual Growth.” She wrote:

My journey with God began at an early age. At age 9 after a very traumatic experience, I looked up and saw the stars in the sky. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by the immense presence of God. I called it my Abraham experience [because of] the stars. From that moment on, God was the spiritual director of my life.

In 2003 I was doing too much for my body to take and had another break. I was blessed during this time to have a lot of therapy which helped me tremendously. Because of this experience, I have come to appreciate life so much more and have learned to live in the presence of God each moment. I hope my telling this will help others to seek help when they need it for any reason. There is hope even in the midst of darkness. And God is always there in all of our experiences.

Even then, Sister Joyce was still teaching.

To the staff of Saint Joseph Villa, who helped make Sister Joyce’s last days restful, prayerful, and comfortable, we offer our thanks and love. And so, while this daughter of New Hope, Kentucky, and Ursuline Sister who so loved teaching, did retire to Saint Joseph Villa, she was still the woman with a huge heart and “playful spirit” who loved doing crafts and writing poetry, watching good movies, crocheting and quilting, walking in the woods and visiting with family.

She would write, “my room is a sanctuary and it helps me keep a recollected spirit. Sometimes I am called to pray during the night. And during the night I feel a unity with God and all creation.” At God’s final invitation during the midday of July 14, Sister Joyce Marie answered, “yes,” and accepted that final full unity with her guiding God. We were blessed to know her; may she rest in peace.