Sister Helen Wilkie

Remembering
Sister Helen Wilkie, OP
Date of death: July 6, 2007

Sister Helen Wilkie, OP (formerly Sister Mary Robert) of the Dominican Sisters of Hope, Newburgh, New York, died July 6, 2007 in Saint Luke’s Hospital, Newburgh, New York. She was 90.

The daughter of the late John Thomas and Marguerite Hart Wilkie, she was born in the Bronx, New York.

Sister Helen entered the novitiate of the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh on September 8, 1937, made her First Profession June 18, 1939, and Final Profession August 21, 1945. Sister Helen earned her BS in Biology from Fordham University, her MA in Education from Notre Dame University, and her MA in Home Economics from Columbia University.

Ministry history:

Sister Helen was an elementary school teacher at Our Lady of Victory School in Mt Vernon NY (1940-44), St. Mary’s School in Poughkeepsie NY (1944-46), Cathedral Elementary School in Raleigh NC (1946-50), St. Mary’s School in Gloucester NJ (1950-55), and Holy Rosary School in Hawthorne NY (1955-59). Sister taught at the biology at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie NY (1959-61), home economics at Gloucester Catholic High School in Gloucester NJ (1961-65) and at Mt St Mary Academy in Newburgh NY (1965-68). She was principal at St. Mary’s School in Passaic NJ (1968-71). Sister Helen then taught at Passaic County Tech in Wayne NJ (1971-91). She was a substitute teacher at DePaul Convent in Wayne NJ (1991-2001). She retired to the Dominican Sisters of Hope Newburgh Center in September 2001.

Sister Helen is survived by her sister, Elizabeth Wilkie, and three nephews – John, Thomas, and Robert Wilkie. She I predeceased by three brothers – John, Donald, and Robert Wilkie.