- December 27, 2022 Obituaries
Sister Helen Flemington, CSJ
(S. James Barbara)
September 30, 1943 – December 27, 2022
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Sister Helen Flemington who passed away on December 27, 2022, at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 79 years of age.
Sister Helen was born on September 30, 1943, in Kansas City, Missouri, to parents Alexander and Grace (Conrad) Flemington. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1960 and was received into the novitiate in 1961 as Sister James Barbara. She earned a bachelor’s degree in French from Fontbonne College in St. Louis in 1966 and a master’s degree in French elementary education from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1973.
In 1965, Sister Helen began her 57 years of ministry work as a primary teacher in St. Louis. She taught at St. Matthew Grade School from 1965 to 1967 and at Immacolata Grade School from 1967 to 1974. For the next seven years, she served as principal at Nativity of Our Lord Grade School in Chicago.
Sister Helen transitioned into pastoral ministry in 1981. She was a pastoral minister and director of religious education at St. Leo the Great Parish in Ava, Missouri, until 1988. She then served at St. Therese Little Flower Parish in Kansas City for 14 years as a pastoral associate (1988-95) and pastoral administrator (1995-2006). During this time, in 2002, she also spent four months on sabbatical at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California.
In 2006, Sister Helen returned to elementary education and was the principal at St. Thomas More Grade School in Kansas City for the next two years.
From 2008 to 2014, she served her CSJ community as a member of the Province Leadership Team. Then, after a year-long sabbatical, Sister Helen went back to St. Therese Little Flower Parish and served as a pastoral minister (2015-2018).
From 2018 to 2022, Sister Helen served her CSJ community as mission advisor for the Kansas City Regional Mission Advancement Office and served on the Board of Directors at St. Joseph Medical Center and the Board of Trustees at Avila University.
Sister Helen moved to Nazareth Living Center in 2022. She carried out her ministry of prayer and presence as well as served as the Kansas City Mission Advancement Advisor Emerita.
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
St. Louis
A Memorial Mass was held on Jan. 4 at Nazareth Living Center in St. Louis. Sister Helen donated her body to science.
Kansas City
A Memorial Mass will also be held on Saturday, Jan. 28 at St. Therese Little Flower Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, where Helen took special joy in serving the people of the parish and being active in the community she dearly loved. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. and a Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. St. Therese Little Flower Parish is located at Euclid Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64130.
MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, 6400 Minnesota Ave., St. Louis, MO 63111-2899. Donate online.