Sr. Cécile Cusson, DHS

1927 – 2022

Windham – Sr. Cécile Cusson, 94, a member of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, died on Saturday March 19, 2022 at St Joseph Living Center in Windham, CT.

Cécile Germaine Cusson was born in 1927 in Putnam, CT., the daughter of Major and Ida (Beaudouin) Cusson. She entered religious life in 1943 at the Holy Spirit Provincial House in Putnam and made her religious profession there in 1947. She was then known as Sr. Cécile de l’Eucharistie.

In 1953 Sr. Cécile studied at Holy Ghost Hospital in Cambridge, MA and earned an LPN diploma. In October of 1955, her dream to become a missionary in Africa was realized when she was missioned to the Republic of Cameroon. There she served as a nurse in several DHS missions for the next 46 years. Her translation of prayers and hymns in 1964 represented the first attempt to put the Mundang dialect into written form. In Kaélé, Sr. Cecile established a rehabilitation center for victims of polio. With crutches and braces made of any available material along with patience and love, she was able to straighten limbs and teach young children to walk again, earning her the name “Mother of the Twisted Limbs”. Her success won her international notice, and she was a speaker at several international symposiums.

Sr. Cécile returned to the United States in January of 2001. In May of that year, she was missioned to Selma, AL and worked as a pharmacy assistant in Pineapple, AL. Retiring in 2016, she returned to the Provincial House in Putnam before joining the community at St. Joseph Living Center in 2019.

She is survived by the Daughters of the Holy Spirit spiritual family – her Sisters in community, the Consecrated Seculars and the Associates. She is also survived by her brothers Robert “Chief” Cusson of Chaplin, CT and Theodore Cusson of Manchester, NH, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brothers Leonard and Victor and sisters Anita Ducat and Margaret Auger.

Calling hours will be on Saturday March 26, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Corpus Christi Parish / St. Joseph Church, 99 Jackson St., Willimantic, CT with a prayer service at 10:15 AM. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11:00 AM followed by burial in St. Mary Cemetery in Putnam at 2:00 PM. Masks are required at the church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to DHS Retirement Fund, P.O. Box 497, Putnam, CT 06260. Services have been entrusted to the Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church St., Putnam, CT.