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She was born in Andover on Sept. 27, 1923, to Mildred (Hower) Black and Paul Black. She had one brother, Paul and one sister, Virginia; both of whom have predeceased her.
Camille Marie attended Dansville Central High School in Dansville, from 1935 through 1939. After graduating, she studied at St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Elmira from 1942 to 1945, where she earned an RN License.
On Sept. 6, 1945, she entered the Maryknoll Sisters Novitiate at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll (from St. Patrick’s Parish, Danville, in the Rochester Diocese). At her Reception, she received the religious name, Sister Camille Marie. She made her First Profession of Vows on March 7, 1948, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, and her Final Vows in Manila, Philippines on March 7, 1951.
In 1948, Sister Camille Marie received her first overseas mission assignment to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Manapla, Philippines where she served as a Nursing Supervisor. In 1955, she returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, to serve as a nurse in the center’s nursing home wing until 1959. She was then assigned to Guatemala to serve as a nurse and religion teacher in Colegio Monte Maria, Guatemala City from 1959 to 1963.
Sr. Camille Marie remained in Guatemala, but relocated to San Pedro Necta to serve again as a nurse and religion teacher for six months; she was then called to Jacaltenango to help set up an operating room and train the nursing staff from 1963 to 1966. In 1967, she returned to the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Manapla, Philippines to serve as a staff nurse for one year.
Sister Camille Marie then decided to further her studies at the Maryknoll Colleges located on the property of the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll. She first attended Mary Rogers College from 1968 to 1972, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. Later, she went on to earn a Master’s of Arts Degree in Religious Studies at the Maryknoll School of Theology in 1980. While attending school she worked in various positions at the Congregation such as Assistant Director, Librarian and Assistant Editor of Maryknoll Society’s Overseas Extension Service Program from 1972 to 1984.
Sister Camille Marie remained at the Maryknoll Sisters Center for many years, serving as a volunteer in various departments such as the Maryknoll Sisters Photo Archive Department, the Development Department, and the Mission Awareness Promotion Team until 2001. She retired in 2006, but remained active serving in the Sacristy and in the New York Archdiocese Catechetical Program.
A Vespers Service will be held for Sister Camille Marie on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. A Funeral Mass will follow on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m. also in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center. Interment will follow in the Maryknoll Sisters Cemetery on the Center grounds.
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