Sister Cristina Marie ND 7302 PDF Download
Cristina Josepha BUCZKOWSKI
Immaculate Conception Province, Chardon, USA
Date of Birth: March 13, 1961 Buenos Aires, Argentina
First Profession: July 26, 2003 Thousand Oaks, California
Date of Death: August 27, 2025 City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, California
Sister Cristina Marie Buczkowski was the daughter of Mr. Walter Buczkowski and Mrs. Helen Buczkowski (nee Podlesny). She grew up in a Catholic family with four siblings: Three brothers and one sister. Her family emigrated to the United States of America when Cristina was 3 years old.
As a young person, Cristina attended public elementary and high school. She was active in her home parish church, St. Mary Magdalene in Camarillo, California. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a Liberal Studies Degree. While in the university and afterwards, she was a core member and coordinator of the St. Mary Magdalene Young Adult Group. Her leadership, compassion, and hospitality helped form life-long friendships. Decades later, some of the members of the group even visited her in the hospital in her last days.
Sister came to know the Sisters of Notre Dame through her work as coordinator of the Young Adult Ministry. One Sister of Notre Dame saw in her the spirit of the congregation and invited her to be an Associate of the Sisters of Notre Dame. She readily accepted and became a member of the pioneer class of SND Associates in 2000. Although she considered religious life as a teenager, it was only after becoming an Associate that she understood that she had the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame and that God was calling her to draw closer to himself and his people through the vowed life.
Sister Cristina Marie spent much of her years of service as an educator at various levels from preschool through 5th grade. She had the opportunity to be a missionary in the village of Buseesa, Uganda, where she was both a teacher and later the headteacher (principal) of St. Julie Model Primary School.
After returning to California, in her efforts to follow in the footsteps of Hilligonde, she opened an afterschool tutoring program in a low-income area. She later served as a house mother at El Ranchito de los Niños in New Mexico, an alternative home for foster children.
Most recently, she worked for Catholic Charities in Laredo, Texas, where she lovingly served the immigrant community. In May 2025, she became quite ill. She was discovered to have a form of blood cancer and was taken to California for further medical treatment. While waiting for a bone marrow donor she passed away.
Sister Cristina Marie was known for her deep friendships, her hospitality, her delicious cooking, and her love of Jesus. She followed God wherever she felt he was leading her – which was often to the poor and vulnerable. Her loving compassion will be greatly missed.
