Helen Maher Garvey, BVM (Robert Joseph)
Helen Maher Garvey, BVM (Robert Joseph) died Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017, at Marian Hall in Dubuque, Iowa. Visitation will be from 9–11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, in the Motherhouse Chapel, followed by a prayer service at 11 a.m. Funeral liturgy will be at 1:30 p.m. Burial is in the Mount Carmel cemetery.
She was born in Hempstead, N.Y., on Jan. 17, 1935, to Clarence and Ruth Maher Garvey. She entered the BVM congregation Sept. 8, 1952, from St. Martha Parish, Uniondale, N.Y. She professed first vows on March 19, 1955, and final vows on July 16, 1960.
From 1976–92, Sister Helen served on the BVM congregation’s leadership team. Also during that time, she was elected president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). She was organizational consultant and director of the Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America exhibit. She served on the board of the National Catholic Reporter. In earlier ministries, Sister Helen taught elementary school in Chicago and Antioch, Ill.; Fort Dodge, Iowa; and West Hempstead, N.Y. She was principal in Bellerose and Hempstead, N.Y. She served as director of pastoral services for the Diocese of Lexington, Ky. She ministered as facilitator for various religious communities and was active in many congregational committees.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Thomas and Robert; and a sister, Eugenia Garvey, OSU. She is survived by brothers Joseph (Warwick, N.Y.) and Eugene (Tinton Falls, N.J.); sisters Therese Fox (Brecksville, Ohio) and Kathleen (James Kearnz) Garvey (Warwick, N.Y.); sister-in-law Pat Garvey, East Marion, N.Y.; nieces; nephews; and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 65 years.