(Sister Beatrice of Jesus)
Sister Cecilia Paganessi, born in Centerville, Mont., decided to be a sister as a 10-year-old, when she and her four sisters went to St. Thomas Home in Great Falls, Mont., after their mother’s death.
After high school graduation, she enrolled at the College of Great Falls and then entered the novitiate at Mount St. Vincent, Seattle.
For 31 years she taught in parochial grade schools in Glasgow and Great Falls, Mont., Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, and Colfax and Walla Walla, Wash.
Other ministries included work in the provincial treasurer’s office in Spokane and community service, including in Walla Walla, where she handmade countless baby blankets for Hispanic women in St. Patrick’s Parish, and baked cookies and pies for neighbors.
Today she lives at Emilie Court, Spokane.