By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 6/17/04)

Sisters of Notre Dame Sister Cecilia traveled to a small, all-girls boarding school on 100 acres in the rural town of Middleburg, Va., in 1981. Over the next 23 years, Sister Cecilia would work her way up from dorm counselor and teacher at a boarding school of 110 young women, to head of a co-educational day-school with nearly 300 students.

After more than two decades of service, Sister Cecilia will be returning to Chardon, Ohio, in July to be closer to her family and will serve at her order’s motherhouse as director of novices and director of ongoing formation. While Sister Cecilia is looking forward to helping young women joining the order as novices, she will miss working with the high school students at Notre Dame Academy. She said she has enjoyed experiencing their "life, vitality and energy — all of the day to day things in the life of a teenager." She will also "miss the opportunity to be a part of the broader community (of Middleburg) and the diocese," she said.

Sister Cecilia was born the third child of Ray and Cecilia Liberatore of Niles, Ohio. She made her first profession in 1964 and her final vows in 1969 in Chardon, Ohio. She received her bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame College in Ohio in 1967, a master’s degree in religious education from the Angelicum in Rome in 1979, a master’s degree in history from Kent State University in 1994 and a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Dayton, Ohio, in 1990.

When Sister Cecilia became head of the school in 1985, a feasibility study was conducted, and found that the school could fill a role that was more needed in the community by being a co-ed day-school. The school transitioned to co-education in 1990.

The next transition Sister Cecilia witnessed was the transfer of governance of the school from the Sisters of Notre Dame to a local board of trustees in 1994. At this time, even though the sisters no longer ran the school, the trustees asked Sister Cecilia to continue as head of the school.

"Obviously the school has seen tremendous transition," said Edward Hoffman, assistant head of school who will assume the role as interim head. "I think there’s a certain spirit that she’s preserved in that transition, and we want to preserve that spirit."

Although Sister Cecilia has witnessed many changes, during her time at Notre Dame Academy, she said the "heritage spirit and philosophy of education of the Sisters of Notre Dame" have remained constant. She said the school has persisted at "maintaining the life of that original spirit of the Sister of Notre Dame."

While there will be no physical bond between the Sisters of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Academy once Sister Cecilia leaves, she said, "The ties that we have will be in continuing to share that charism and spirit."

"We won’t have the sisters here in person," Hoffman said, "but we’ll certainly have them here in spirit."

Teachers from the school have over the years attended Sisters of Notre Dame retreats in Chardon, Ohio, and they will continue to do this in years to come. The spirit of community service will live on at the school through a number of activities and teaching mechanisms that teach and foster the mission of the Sisters, including community and service.

"I look on the years I have spent here as a real gift, an experience of God’s goodness. It has spoiled me."

Sister Cecilia said she is "eager and ready" to answer God’s call to minister to her Sisters, but she will be missed.

"She has really been the admiral of the ship — she’s steered the ship into a safe port — as well as being the spiritual head of the school," Hoffman said. "The hardest part for me — I will miss her inspiration, leadership and recommendations. We’ll be losing that valued and treasured experience. But she has left us in a very good place. I don’t think Notre Dame will miss a beat."