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Lucille DeStefano, SSJ
SisterBiography
Home Parish: St. Leo, Ridgway, PA
Born in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, Sister Lucille DeStefano, SSJ, was introduced to the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph at an early age. Growing up in St. Leo Parish, she was deeply influenced by the Sisters’ kindness and dedication to their neighbors.
“I know it was the neighborliness of the Sisters of St. Joseph that attracted me,” she recalled. “Not only were they our teachers, but they also came to visit when someone was ill, or when they were passing by for a walk.” As a piano student, she also had the opportunity to practice at the convent, where she came to recognize the Sisters as a family.
Following high school, Sister Lucille entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1946, nurturing both her musical gifts and her spiritual vocation. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Villa Maria College in Erie in 1958 and later completed a master’s degree in Music Education at Chicago Musical College/Roosevelt University.
Music became an integral part of Sister Lucille’s ministry. She taught piano at Villa Maria Conservatory of Music in Erie and served as a music teacher and choir director at St. Francis Parish in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She later spent many years at Villa Maria College, where she served as associate professor and chairperson of both the Humanities and Fine Arts departments. She also served as an associate professor of Fine Arts at Gannon University in Erie. Within her religious community, Sister Lucille contributed her gifts as a member of the Community Living Center Team and director of liturgy.
Throughout her life, prayer and music remained closely intertwined. The Psalms became a particular source of inspiration, especially Psalm 139, which she once spent an entire retreat pondering and praying. Its message of God’s intimate knowledge and abiding presence resonated deeply with her: “O God you search me and you know me … You are with me beyond understanding. God of my present, my past and future too.”
Reflecting on the Sisters who shaped her childhood, Sister Lucille came to understand that their everyday acts of kindness had introduced her to the very heart of their charism: unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God. What first attracted her to religious life became a guiding principle throughout her years of service, expressed through music, prayer, education, and community.
Sister Lucille’s life is a testament to the enduring power of a simple, neighborly presence—and to the ways faith and music can bring people closer to one another and to God.
