Sister Helen McCormac

Helen was the first of seven children born to Helen and Thomas McCormac. Helen graduated from Nativity B. V. M. School in 1955 and she graduated from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School in 1959. During her high school years, Helen became more and more aware of the Lord’s call to religious life. Following much prayer, on September 8, 1959, Helen entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in Chestnut Hill.

Helen received her religious name, Sister Mary Thomas Germaine, and was missioned to St. Bernard Parish where she taught first grade from September 1961 to January 1965. She continued as a first-grade teacher next at St. George Parish in Glenolden and then at St. Bridget Parish in Philadelphia. In the summer of 1971, Sister Thomas Germaine, SSJ was sent to Bishop Conwell High School in Levittown to teach Spanish and religion and to moderate various school clubs and activities, including the Student Council. It was during these years, that Sister Thomas Germaine completed her undergraduate studies and received her Baccalaureate Degree from Chestnut Hill College on August 4, 1973. During her years at Bishop Conwell High School until August 1976, Sister Thomas Germaine lived at the Sacred Heart Convent in Levittown. It was during this time that Sister Thomas Germaine became Sister Helen as she returned to the baptismal name which her parents had given her at birth. In August 1976, Sister Helen was sent to Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Philadelphia to be the superior in the convent and the principal of the elementary school. In August 1977, Sister Helen was sent to Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg to teach religion and Spanish. During this time, Sister Helen completed her studies at Millersville State College and earned a Master’s Degree in Spanish in 1979.

In June 1985, through the goodness of Bishop William Keeler, the Bishop of Harrisburg, Sister Helen was assigned to St. Ann Parish in Steelton where she ministered to the parishioners. After much prayer and discernment, and after consultation with Bishop Keeler and some priests in the Diocese of Harrisburg, as well as the Congregation for Clergy and Religious in Rome, Sister Helen proposed to Bishop Keeler the idea of establishing the Diocesan Sisters of the Church of Harrisburg. And so, on August 13, 1987, with her parents, other family members and some friends gathered for Mass at St. Ann Church in Steelton, Bishop Keeler accepted Sister Helen McCormac’s promise of celibacy and the promise of obedience to the Bishop of Harrisburg and his successors. This would be the beginning of serving in the Church of Harrisburg as a Diocesan Sister for many years.

After continuing her ministry at St. Ann Parish until its merger in 1995, Sister Helen was sent to St. John Neumann Parish in Lancaster, PA where she served as the pastoral associate until August 2003. Beginning in September 2003 until her retirement in December 2010, Sister Helen served as the pastoral associate at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Harrisburg.

During her years serving in these parishes, Sister Helen was actively involved at the diocesan level as she served on the Sisters’ Council for the Diocese of Harrisburg, the Diocesan Coordinator of the R.C.I.A., the Diocesan Associate Liaison for the Charismatic Renewal and was engaged with the Marriage Encounter Program as well as serving on the Diocesan Marriage Committee. As the Diocesan Associate Liaison for the Charismatic Renewal, Sister Helen travelled the United States representing the Church of Harrisburg.

In her retirement years, Sister Helen continued her work with the Sisters’ Council and also provided spiritual direction for both lay and clergy in the Diocese of Harrisburg. In November 2019, with the permission and support of her bishop, Bishop Ronald Gainer, and through the generosity of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Sister Helen moved back to Philadelphia where she happily resided in Holy Family Home in Southwest Philadelphia as she continued to serve the Lord and His Church through her prayer and her interaction with the residents, her new community of faith, until her death. For the love of God, Sister Helen McCormac spent her life in the service of others.

Sister Helen was a daughter of the late Thomas McCormac, Sr. and the late Helen C. (Fee). She was the sister of the late Marguerite O’Donnell (Gerald), the late Thomas McCormac, Jr. (Grace), Gerald McCormac (Marilyn), Monsignor Michael McCormac, Kathleen Iller (Dennis) and Mary Pierami (James). She will be missed by many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews and extended family. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 at Saint Frances Cabrini Church, 325 S. Oxford Valley Road, Fairless Hills, PA 19030 at 11:00 AM. Family and friends may call beginning at 9:00 AM.  Rite of Committal will follow at Resurrection Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Holy Family Home, 5300 Chester Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143 or Saint Frances Cabrini Church.