Helen Haigh, CSJP (1931-2024)

Late in the evening of January 7, 2024, Sister Helen Haigh went home to God in the exact same quiet and peaceful manner that she had lived among us. Sister Helen was the second oldest of sixteen children born to Leo and Ethel (Darby) Haigh. She would frequently remind us that she was the only one in her family who was not born in Seattle, Washington; She was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. But Sister Helen did grow up in Seattle and attended our grade school, Saint Teresa. From the beginning, she was enamored with the sisters there, especially Sister Michael Mulligan, CSJP, who remained her life-long friend.

Sister Helen entered the community on July 31, 1948, and was received into novitiate on February 2, 1949, taking the name Sister Mary Leo. After the profession of First Vows on February 2, 1951, Helen began what was to be a valuable, varied and rich ministry within the community.

Sister Helen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education from Seattle University and a Masters in Humanities from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. Her first teaching assignment was at Holy Family School in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada. From there her career in education took her to Port Angeles and Longview in Washington State, Van Nuys and San Francisco in California, and back to the Seattle Archdiocese where she was a teacher and principal at various primary and secondary schools.

Sister Helen’s calm approach to life was well utilized when in 1968 she was appointed Novice Director on the community formation team. Then five years later, she was asked to be Administrator at St. Mary-on-the-Lake, Bellevue, Washington.

On the occasion of her fiftieth jubilee, Sister Helen shared two important insights into her spirituality. Her mantra at that time was “Let me sing of Yahweh’s goodness…” (Isaiah 63:7) She attributed that frame of mind to the love she experienced within both her natal and religious family. The inscription on her ring had one simple word: “Fiat.” And Sister Helen’s attitude to life and her ministry was a quiet living out of that one word. During her religious life she served quietly in any capacity to which she was assigned. As General Chapter or Assembly delegate, in deliberations, hers was the quiet measured voice of common sense, delivered in a few, brief words.

Sister Helen was a woman of gentle grace, efficiency, encouragement, and prayer. She went gently to meet her God, just as gently as she lived among us.