Sister Helen Patrick Bartley, OP 1918 2016 O Lord, my rock, my refuge, my fortress! Baptized Mary Eileen Bartley, Sister Helen Patrick was born on October 2, 1918, in Chicago. She was the first of three girls born to Patrick and Helen (Walsh) Bartley. Her sisters were named Patricia and Catherine. When she was young the family moved to the Park Manor neighborhood and belonged to St. Columbanus Parish. In her autobiography, Sister Helen described her early childhood. We were happy children despite the fact that money was meager during those depression years. We enjoyed simple pleasure and outings wherever the Chicago Street Car system would take us. Each of us [attended] Mr. McNamara s Irish dancing classes and we also had piano lessons for as long as we showed an inclination to continue. To this very day such an introduction fostered interest and enjoyment of the arts. Mary Eileen attended St. Columbanus School and Aquinas High School. After graduation she received a scholarship that enabled her to attend St. Joseph College (later renamed Siena Heights College) from 1935 to 1937. In her autobiography she wrote: During my two years [at St. Joseph College] my desire to become a sister grew very strong. It was not easy, however, to convince my parents who thought I had been too much with the Adrians and should shop around. After considering three other congregations, Mary Eileen wrote to Mother Gerald requesting admission to the Congregation. She entered the postulate on September 27, 1938, and six months later received her religious name, Sister Helen Patrick. After first profession in April 1940, Sister Helen remained in Adrian to continue her studies at Siena Heights College. She received her bachelor s degree in Latin at the end of the summer semester. Sister Helen s first appointment was to St. Dominic School in Detroit, where she taught for three years. These were memorable years for her, and she wrote, Maybe because it was my first appointment, St. Dominic s in Detroit seemed heavenly Dominican. Her next appointment brought her back to Adrian to teach for one year at St. Mary High School and continue her graduate studies in Latin at the University of Michigan. In 1944, she received her master s degree. 1
From 1944 to 1947, Sister Helen taught Latin at Dominican High School. This was followed with two years ministering as a parish visitor. This service was headquartered in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, where they scheduled arrangements for taking a parish census. During Sister Helen s two years in this ministry, she and her companions took census in a variety of places, such as New Orleans, Louisiana; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Birmingham, Michigan. In 1949, Sister Helen was appointed to serve as principal and teacher at Blessed Sacrament School in Toledo for the next six years. This would be her final ministry in elementary education. From 1955 until her retirement in 1996, Sister Helen taught Latin in several high schools, including four years at Rosarian Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida and thirteen years at Mount St. Mary Academy, St. Charles, Illinois. During six of those years at the Mount, Sister Helen also served a term as Councilor on the Provincial Team of St. Dominic Province. Her last twenty-four years of teaching were at St. Edward High School in Elgin, Illinois. In her autobiography, Sister Helen wrote: St. Edward High School in Elgin stands out because I was there for twenty-four years. They were post Vatican II years when we were in a state of flux. The Spirit was moving and change entered our lives. Again, thank God for His strength. In 1994, Sister Helen received a letter from John W. Boyer, Dean of the College of the University of Chicago, telling her that one of her former students at St. Edward had nominated her for the Outstanding Teacher Award. He closed his letter with, It is with both gratitude and admiration that I send you the enclosed certificate. Sister Helen retired from teaching and serving as Chair of the Foreign Language Department in June 1996. She was joined by Sister Mary Annella Tracy and Sister Mary Christine Ripplinger, who also retired. Kenneth L. Chance, Dean of Students at St. Edward High School, sent the Sisters the following message of gratitude. Congratulations on fifty-five years of service to St. Edward High School. What a great and glorious accomplishment. I am sure that those of us who made your acquaintance, witnessed your love of God and admired your nurturing of countless children, will certainly be better people if we remember your kindness in all that we do. After retiring, Sister Helen lived with the Sisters at St. Denis Convent in Chicago, where she volunteered in the school and in the parish. Because of frail health, Sister Helen Patrick returned to Adrian in 2009 and lived at the Dominican Life Center/Maria until she died on March 12, 2016, at the age of ninety-seven. During the remembrance service, Sister Maria Goretti Browne, Vicaress of the Adrian Dominican Vicariate, shared the following story. 2
I have known Helen since I was a freshman at Dominican High School, and that was a long time ago. I have kept in touch with her from that time on. I have heard nothing but praise for her lively, peaceful, friendly, kind, holy [manner]. We will miss you, Helen, but our faith tells us that you have reached your eternal reward and are reunited with your parents, your sisters, Patricia and Catherine, and all those Sisters who have gone before you during your seventy-five years as an Adrian Dominican. Sister Joan Leo Kehn sent the following message that was read during the wake. [Sister Helen Patrick] was the principal at Blessed Sacrament in Toledo when I was in the 7th and 8th grades. She was a very fine English, grammar and diagram teacher. She also was one of my mentors. During my high school years at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, I would often stop by after school to let her know how things were going. After I entered I was sent to Vero Beach in Florida and she was teaching at Rosarian Academy. [Over the years] we would have great visits especially during my many summers in Adrian. Helen Heard, a Co-worker at Maria, wrote, I so enjoyed speaking with her. She would welcome me into her room and tell me about her day. She would always ask me about my life as well. If I had cards to read to her she would listen and share stories about the person who sent the letter. I thank you, Sister, for always giving me a smile, no matter the day. Medlin Pickford, also a Co-worker, sent the following message, I remember you looking out at the courtyard and admiring all the beautiful flowers. I will never forget these moments and will always cherish these memories of you. Sister Durstyne Farnan s homily reflected on the readings 1. She said, At baptism you and I are called into God s life. And this is the legacy that Sister Helen Patrick leaves us. Her life was spent in God and God in her. It seems Sister Helen truly cultivated a life of love. It didn t just happen or only at baptism, but it was Helen s lifelong pursuit to live in and cultivate Love. She did this by listening and picking up on what friends and students and community members needed and she responded to it. She did it by sitting in the presence of loving people, through her attention to the children she taught and through her attentiveness to the Word of God that deepened her understanding of what Christ meant in giving love away without counting the cost. She knew that love is the composition of the universe. 1 Romans 12:9-16; Matthew 15:29-31 3
In her autobiography, Sister Helen wrote, Thank you, God, for your gracious favor to me. This was the beautiful prayer that Sister Helen Patrick prayed throughout her ninety-seven years of life. She was a gracious woman who shared God s graciousness with others. During the funeral liturgy, Father Jim Hug, SJ, offered the following prayer. In our desire to care for our suffering world and all its peoples-- Help us to be as Helen Patrick was among us: prayerful and caring, attentive and open to discern the sacred in our lives. Help us to be courageous in following wherever You draw us, trusting always in the fullness of Your Life and Love. Amen 4
LEFT: From left, Sisters Mary Annella Tracy, Mary Ripplinger, and Helen Patrick Bartley. LEFT: Sister Helen Patrick, center, with her blood sisters, Catherine and Patricia. RIGHT: With Sister Grace Dougherty (right). 5
Enjoying an outdoor meal together are, from left, Sisters Elizabeth Becker, Francita Hattan, Helen Patrick Bartley, and Philomena Murray, Mount St. Mary Academy, St. Charles, Illinois, 1969-70. 6