Martha Cecile Oliver

Cecile is survived by her children, Jackson Morgan, Allison Palmgren and Michael Morgan; sibling, Jack Goldsberry; and granddaughters Cecile and Bridget Palmgren.

Cecile was born on June 15, 1956, in Lubbock, Texas to Martha and Jack Goldsberry. Dubbed a “veteran of plane jaunts” at just 3 days-old by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Cecile frequently joined her parents on Cessna flights across Texas and Mexico. Befittingly, upon graduating from University of California-Hayward with her nursing degree in 1979, Cecile joined the Air Force, serving as a labor and delivery nurse at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, WA.

Cecile had two children, Jackson, Allison while in Spokane and a third, Michael, while stationed in Rapid City, SD. Cecile raised her three children and continued work as a civilian nurse while moving around the country as an Air Force wife over the next 20 years. Cecile earned a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Nebraska in 1995 and immediately upon graduating, began work as an associate professor of nursing at Creighton University, thus launching what would become her life’s passion: teaching nurses how to care for new babies and mothers.

Cecile’s biting, quick-witted approach to lectures and her patient-centered approach to clinical protocols earned recognition from both her peers and her students; and though she received her first Outstanding Faculty Award in 1997, Cecile would say her greatest honor was the many times her own students chose her to speak at their graduation ceremonies. Outside the classroom, Cecile served on the board of March of Dimes- Nebraska, the national boards of both the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, and the Center for Certification, Preparation and Review. Her research featured in AWHONN Lifelines and the Journal of Nursing Education as recently as 2016. Upon returning to Spokane in 2005, Cecile joined the nursing faculty at Washington State University where she continued to teach until 2017.

Family, local friends and former students met to celebrate Cecile’s life at a private ceremony in Spokane on July 7, 2019.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the March of Dimes.