Sister Christina (Christina Marie) Trudeau, SNDdeN


We remember with gratitude the life of Sister Christina Trudeau, SNDdeN, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur for 75 years. She died peacefully on March 25, 2024, at Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, California, where she was lovingly cared for during the past twelve years.

The youngest of seven children, Sister Christina was born on June 8, 1930, in Los Angeles, to parents who instilled in their family a great love for God and the Church.

Sister Christina thrived as a high school student at Notre Dame High School, in Watsonville, California, and by graduation she knew that the Spirit of St. Julie Billiart was calling her to enter religious life. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1948 upon graduation.

After teaching first grade throughout California in Marysville, Belmont, San Jose, and Los Angeles, she began her Montessori studies which would lead her to become an internationally known pioneer in cosmic environmental education. A creative and energetic educator, she brought the Montessori Method to children, parents, and teachers in California, Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines.

Sister Christina established the Notre Dame Montessori School and, with her family's support, built the Early Learning Center (now Notre Dame Preschool) at Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), in Belmont, California. She also founded its Early Childhood and Montessori Teacher Training Program.

Over the years Sister Christina taught Montessori at Seattle University in Seattle, Washington, Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan, and University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines. At Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii, she provided Peace and Environmental Education to teachers of the Pacific Islands. Sister Christina's doctoral studies took her to India where she encountered lesser-known aspects of Maria Montessori's work. This experience added to her broad view of environmental education, especially around the Pacific Rim. She became a true Montessori specialist, giving presentations and writing scholarly papers throughout her years in ministry. In 2010 the American Montessori Society honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sister Christina's joy was always centered in seeing children blossom in the Montessori environment and in the enriching exchange of teachers and students. She said "Just love the people and their children. Love their homes and their food and their customs and they love you back. We are the whole family of God, different ways but one life."

Sister Christina became a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Belmont Province Center community in 2003 where she continued her active involvement preparing teachers for global education. In 2012 she moved to Mercy Care and Retirement Center in Oakland.

Sister Christina was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Obdulia Trudeau, her sister, Bernadette, and her brothers, J. Earl, Howard, Harold, James and Arthur. She is lovingly remembered by her many nieces and nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews of the Trudeau and Gavin families, friends, former students, and Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated to honor Sister Christina's life at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 25, 2024, at the NDNU Cunningham Chapel, 1500 Ralston Avenue, in Belmont, California. Contributions in Sister Christina's memory may be made to Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, 1520 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA 94002 or online at snddeneastwest.org. Further information about Sister Christina's life can be found at https://snddeneastwest.org/sisters/christina-trudeau/.