Sister Arline was born on Dec. 7, 1930 in St. Louis to Herman and Cecilia (Hitpas) Eveld. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1952 and was received into the novitiate in 1953 as Sister Robert Cecile. Her final profession was in 1960. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Fontbonne College in 1952 and a master’s degree in deaf education from Kent State University in 1961.

Sister Arline devoted 60 years of service to educating children with hearing loss and related services. She began her ministry in 1955 teaching deaf children at the primary level at St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf, a role she held for 25 years. She continued her service at St. Joseph Institute as a counselor/family therapist and, finally, as the founder and coordinator of the parent/infant program from 1981-1997.

Sister Arline was a part-time associate professor at Fontbonne College (now University). She also served on the Archdiocesan Board of Education, the Archdiocesan Board for Person with Disabilities, the Fontbonne University Alumni Board and the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf Alumni Board.

Sister Arline received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in 2001. She was a delegate to the International Catholic Conference for the Deaf in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971.

While Sister Arline resided in St. Charles from 1997-2016, she provided tutoring for children with hearing loss, and she served in pastoral care as a Communion minister at St. Joseph Medical Center. She completed a manuscript entitled: “A Guide for Parents of Children with Hearing Loss — Infancy through Early Childhood (A Rehabilitation Approach)” to be published.

Moving to The Village at Nazareth in 2016, she continued to provide tutoring until her retirement in September 2020, when she moved to Nazareth Living Center, to serve her community in prayer and presence.

She donated her body to science.