Sister Helena Jeanne McCarthy

(formerly Sr. M. Berchmans, CSJ) died peacefully on Thursday July 30, 2009 at St. Joseph's Convent in Toronto. She is the daughter of Thomas McCarthy and Mary Ann Pashak. She is predeceased by her sisters Irene (Sr. St. Norbert McCarthy, CSJ), Anna McCarthy and Othlyn (Fitzpatrick) and her brothers Thomas and James. She will be dearly missed by her many caring nieces and nephews, friends and former colleagues, who mourn the passing of this wonderful woman of 103 years.

Sister Helena entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in Toronto in 1932 and has celebrated many anniversaries, the most recent being her 100th birthday in 2006 and seventy-five years as a Sister of St. Joseph in 2007. Sr. Helena spent many years in high school education before she moved into a ministry of pastoral support at St. Michael's Hospital where she greeted the many people who came through the doors at 30 Bond St. Throughout her long life she maintained a keen interest in the concerns of her family, her community and the world. Her wake will be held in St. Joseph's Convent on Friday at 3:30 pm with a prayer service at 7:30 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, August 1st, at 10:30 am with Fr. J. Plevnik, S.J. presiding followed by interment at Holy Cross Cemetery.