Vale Lucia Liberatore

I met Lucia Cicuttini on my second day at Kilbreda, 32 years ago. We shared the Conference Room on the Colonnade (now Room 18) with 28 colleagues, most of whom were young and had a ball! We taught French together and then moved to Room 8, with a short stint elsewhere and the fun continued. Always ready for a joke, “Looch” as we called her, referred to me mostly as “Dames”, except on the odd occasion when she would chastise me and refer to me as Damian, but usually with her 'Cheekytini' grin, to let me know that it wasn’t all bad!

For the record, I think I was a better French teacher, but as a Mathematics teacher, Lucia was unsurpassed. She was strict, but fair, caring and respectful. She got so much out of her students and they loved her for it. She thought of interesting ways to 'engage them', (before that was a buzzword) and used games and songs in Italian and Mathematics, which I’m sure many past pupils will remember. 

I will remember, above all, Lucia’s incredible integrity. There are numerous anecdotes which would be relevant, but I will mention only one. Lucia resigned as Coordinator of the Language Faculty in 1993, as funds which came from an external body, for the teaching of languages, were put into the general coffers. She couldn’t abide that. I did, though, taking over from her in the belief that, if Sister Mary Dalton thought it was all right, then so did I.

As Coordinator, Lucia oversaw our first forays into New Caledonia; a combined trip with St Bede’s as the De La Salle brothers had a school over there and students were treated to a very authentic experience. We then hosted a group of New Caledonian students here for two weeks. Later, she went back in “New Cal Mach II” in 2012, accompanying my daughter Julia with Marlene.

Last week, I returned a box of Lucia’s things to her home, including her trademark very sensible straw hat. Lucia would come up to me on sports days suggesting, in her caring and maternal way, “I think you need some sunscreen, Damian!” 

Our lives intersected further, when Lucia, Paul, Christina and Michael set up home in Mt Eliza, not far from me. I have been a sporadic visitor there over the years and was always welcomed warmly and almost always entertained in the kitchen, the heart of Lucia’s house. Our kids went to school together at St Thomas More’s where I was on the board. Of course, Lucia often had suggestions and advice. She seemed to think of things that no one else considered. 

When Lucia’s dad died a few years back, she inherited about 50 rose bushes and we shared this as a topic of conversation often. She also got his aviary and collection of canaries, another passion we shared and one we spoke about only recently as the breeding season had just begun. Our last conversation was Lucia asking if "I was all right", last Wednesday. I replied, “I’ll tell you later”, as I was just about to go into Room 74.

Every year I would breathe a sigh of relief when I saw Lucia was teaching my Homeroom. “They’ll be in good hands”, I would always think.

I know that many share my view of this talented and affable woman, who personified our motto, going about her business here with Strength and Kindliness. So much so, that Lucia was awarded the Kildare Ministries Staff Award in 2018. 

Lucia always read my archives articles, and on many occasions, would email me to tell me she liked this or that. “What a beautiful tribute to your Mum in the Kilbreda Newsletter :) :) :)”, she commented only a week or so ago. I hope she’d approve of this one. May she have everlasting joy.

Damian Smith 

Teacher / Archives