Sister Dorothy Kebba, C.S.C.

Sister Dorothy Kebba, CSC
(Sister M. Mount Carmel)

                                                                 April 26, 1920 – January 3, 2019

Entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross from New York, New York on January 30, 1946
Initial Profession of Vows on August 15, 1948

Sister Dorothy let go the first days of 2019 and died quickly, if one can say dying at 98 is “quick.”  Sister came to Saint Mary’s, the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, in August 2001 having had to slow down after years of intense ministry experiences since 1948.  Like many women, whether in the convent or not, she described herself as having always been “rushing, hurrying.”

Dorothy Mae Kebba was born April 26, 1920 in Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania to Michael Kebba and Mary Barron.  When she was two months old the family moved to New York City, where her father worked.  She was raised in New York City and attended public schools all her life.  Her sister Norma Jean died at age 23. Her older brother William died in November 2006.  Her brother, Michael James “Jim” Kebba, the only living member of her immediate family, has had a strong bond with Sister these last years.

When Dorothy entered the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1946, she had already worked as an executive secretary for five years, using her salary to help her family.   Dorothy Kebba’s former bosses in New York City, at Montgomery Ward and Crucible Steel Company of America, gave her superb recommendations for any future secretarial position.  Her male supervisors found her to be conscientious, industrious, alert, accurate in detail.  “She learns readily, accepts and handles responsibility, maintains complete files, has a good personnel and customer approach, is adaptable.”  Dorothy’s clerical qualities, “paramount requisites” for a capable executive secretary, served her well in ministry and in community as a Sister of the Holy Cross for nearly 73 years. “She was a good woman with whom to share community.”

As Sister M. Mount Carmel, the name she received at reception of the holy habit on August 15, 1946, she was assigned to Catholic schools in Washington, D.C., Greenbelt, Maryland, and Batavia, New York.  She taught first through eighth grades 1948-1957.  Then until 2001, her business skills came to the fore again.  In the days when hospital business offices were never closed, Sister was the business office manager at Mount Carmel Hospital, Columbus, Ohio (1957-1968) and Saint John’s Hospital, Anderson, Indiana (1968-1976).  Sister Dorothy considered her ministry working directly for the sisters as Midwest Regional Secretary (1976-1986) and Office Administrator (1986-1988) as “the BEST there is!”  After a sabbatical and year of profound spiritual renewal, she was the Campus Ministry Secretary at the University of Notre Dame (1989-1998), then Receptionist at the university’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart until 2001 where “she was always kind and welcoming.”   

Sister wrote that her prayer for herself was that at the hour of her death she would hear God calling, “Yes, Dorothy, do rush, do hurry, but run into my arms instead, because that is where I want you to be.”

Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling arrangements.  We invite you to donate to the Ministry with the Poor Fund in Sister’s name by visiting www.cscsisters.org

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