Story Photos
 Sister Cecilia was treated with a bouquet of 95 helium balloons during a party held for her at the St. Rose Parish Hall. Photo courtesy of June Strovas
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Beloved Sister Cecilia turns 95
Saturday, August 9, 2008 12:00 AM PDT
By Brenda Blevins McCorkle
Printable version
E-mail this articleNinety-five helium balloons greeted Sister Cecilia Gri at the party in her honor.
The hummingbird-sized lady could have floated away on such a gift. Had that happened, any one of the students, friends and St. Rose Church parishioners who gathered to help her celebrate her 95th birthday would have reached out to grab their petite church treasure.
Sister Cecilia has been in Longview a total of 43 years, starting in 1952 when she served as principal of St. Rose School.
Although her feet are firmly planted in the local area, Sister Cecilia began life as a Canadian citizen. She was born July 15, 1913, in Greenwood, British Columbia to Francis and Lois Gri.
The family was very poor, Sister Cecilia said.
“My dad was a miner, and he prospected and of course, that wasn’t very prosperous,” she said.
The family moved around quite a bit, she said.
“We lived in the sticks, but in beautiful places,” Sister Cecilia said. “We lived near Kootenay Lake. It’s the most gorgeous place on Earth.”
Summer was filled with views of the water, trees and mountains, but the winters were tough, she noted.
“We had to walk in the snow to school and all that, but we liked sleigh riding and all that stuff,” the nun said.
Despite the beauty surrounding them, living in such remote areas took its toll on the family. In 1924, Sister Cecilia’s father died of pneumonia.
“He got this double pneumonia,” she said. “We were in the country. There was no doctor. Penicillin wasn’t discovered yet and so, he died, and we couldn’t do anything in the woods.”
Not long after that, the family, which included Cecilia and her four younger siblings, moved to Trail, B.C. Cecilia and her siblings attended public school, but when the eldest daughter reached high school age, her mother decided she should continue her education at the convent school in Nelson, B.C.
“That’s where I first saw the sisters,” Sister Cecilia said. “It was my first experience with them, and they were so nice.”
Some of the nuns encouraged Cecilia to become a sister.
“They said, ‘You would make a good sister some day,’ and I believed them,” she said, smiling. “So I became one, and I’ve been one for almost 78 years.”
The novitiate for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace was in Bellingham at that time. Sister Cecilia spent a few months there, serving in the hospital when the Great Depression hit.
“Patients couldn’t pay,” she said. “We were very poor, but that didn’t bother me because we were poor all our life.”
She then completed her high school education and went on to Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) to study history and U.S. government in preparation to become a teacher.
She also became a U.S. citizen and took a teaching job in Seattle. After three years, she went back to college and finished her teaching degree.
Education was important, Sister Cecilia said, and she pursued opportunities every summer. She eventually earned a master’s of education and administration credentials.
Her initial stint in Longview at St. Rose School was challenging, she noted.
“I also had to teach, and in those days our classes were large,” she said. “But mine was the smallest — I had 40.”
She also proudly watched the first three graduating classes from the school as they moved on to their high school education.
After leaving Longview in 1955, she spent the next 12 years teaching in the Seattle area.
While recovering from a surgery, Sister Cecilia realized she was worn out from the classroom. She decided to return to Longview to work at St. John Medical Center.
“It was different. It gave me a change,” she said.
After her retirement from the hospital, she served as coordinator of ministry to the homebound at St. Rose Church. Last year she gave up that position after having an artery bypass in her right leg.
Although she’s recovered from her surgery and is in the process of healing from a recent eye procedure, Sister Cecilia said she feels her body rebelling.
“My arthritis is trying to rule my body, and that’s not so good,” she said.
She continues to live near the hospital with her sister, Maria, who is also a nun. Her other three siblings are now deceased, she said.
Sister Cecilia said she doesn’t regret returning to Longview, even though she’s not a native of the area, and has enjoyed serving the hospital and St. Rose.
“I liked Longview when I taught here, and I knew something about it,” she said. “I’ve always liked the people here, and I guess that’s why I’m still here.”
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