BENEDICTINE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART
1910 Maple Ave, Lisle, Il 60532

 

Return to Our Deceased page

Marcella Marie Moravec, OSB


Reflection by Sister Karen Nykiel, OSB
February 15, 1928 – August 10, 2008
Wake Service May 5, 2009

When we come to Community we leave behind our families and become members of a greater family. Most of us have lived together here at Sacred Heart for over 40 years. Perhaps we could conclude that our “desert years” have taught us to love and cherish each member. We have had time to meet each others families, identify each other’s gifts, pray together the Divine Office, eat at the table of the Lord numerous times, and celebrate each others successes. Together we witness the love of God through our hospitality to family, friends and strangers. While all days are not perfect as we see them, all days bring us graces to continue in this Benedictine way.

Sister was a true friend to me as well as to you. She was born in Seymour, Texas and named Mary Georgia. She is welcomed into heaven by her parents, her brothers Wence, Timothy and Frank and her sister Angela. Before entering this community she worked as a bookkeeper for a roofing company and a cashier for a jewelry store in Wichita Falls. She also attended a nearby college for classes in accounting.

Marcie loved to teach whether it was elementary grades, high school or college she put forth great effort to do it well. She especially liked teaching at Benet…Business Law, Typing and Accounting. Her greatest joy in her studies was the attainment of the title Certified Public Accountant (CPA). In community she felt honored to have been asked to share her talents as Treasurer, a job she never considered taxing. She helped me set up our first journals for the Queen of Peace Center, while she was learning to put her journals on our first computer system. Without her aid we surely would have struggled to meet our deadlines.

Marcie didn’t work all the time, though it seemed so. She loved to get outside either to walk around our grounds or to plant and care for a number of our garden areas. She loved to bake bread and pies, often spending precious time in the kitchen around holidays. She was not a reader, per se, but she loved to listen to tapes, especially those “self-help” tapes – why? Because she always felt the need to improve herself. She also listened to CD’s with a spiritual message.

While hospitality is our mission, Marcie’s hospitality extended beyond this Monastery. If she attended a Rotary function, Eyes to the Skies, a Dinner/Dance at St. Mary’s, a golf outing dinner, she was the one who put on an apron and went around selling raffle tickets. She really couldn’t sit still and loved making conversation with others.

When her term as Treasurer ended, some thought she would retire. However, Marcie needed to be busy. She still had much to give. With God’s help, she answered an ad to use her talents assisting Naperville ENT and truly loved to be with the Piazza’s, all the doctors, and Mike, Marilyn, Gina, and was blessed to receive hugs from Sally and Dominic when they visited the office. Leaving them was a very difficult day for her.

Marcie was as astounded as we when she learned that she had liver cancer. When we thought that she might not make it through the surgery, she surprised us by responding well. She coped with chemotherapy and, when told that the tumor’s growth could not be controlled by chemo any more, she submitted to hospice care. She faithfully attended the Divine Office and Mass each day, often praying the rosary with the Villa residents.

For Marcie who loved life, delighted in dog sitting (a true animal lover at heart), enjoyed a game of tri-ominos, laughed at crazy things, may she rest in the loving arms of the Lord. She has truly prepared well during her journey here on earth. She leaves behind her nieces Ranee and Theresa, and her nephew Mike and their families. For us, we have yet another saint in heaven who will lovingly accept us when it is our turn to end this pilgrimage.