Sister Helen Subach | Teacher, principal, 89
Sister Helen Subach, 89, who taught grades one through eight in Catholic schools for 60 years, died of cancer Thursday at Assisi House, the retirement residence of the Sisters of St. Francis in Aston.
Sister Helen Subach, 89, who taught grades one through eight in Catholic schools for 60 years, died of cancer Thursday at Assisi House, the retirement residence of the Sisters of St. Francis in Aston.
Sister Helen grew up in Ansonia, Conn., and Shenandoah, Pa. At 15, she entered the Convent of the Sisters of St. Francis in Aston. Her younger sister, Frances, later joined her there.
She completed high school in the convent and earned a bachelor's degree in education from Villanova University.
Sister Helen, who was also known by her religious name, Sister John Damian, taught at St. Mary's School in Manayunk for 25 years. In the Philadelphia area, she also taught in Nativity School in Media, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Doylestown, and St. Bonaventure and St. Benedict Schools in Philadelphia. For 17 years she was a teacher and principal in Allentown.
From 1998 until her recent illness, she helped care for the St. Francis Convent in Towson, Md. She loved nature and tended convent gardens wherever she was assigned.
Sister Helen is survived by brothers Joseph and George, and a sister Dolores. Sister Frances Subach died in 2001.
A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. today at Assisi House, 600 Red Hill Rd., Aston. Friends may call at 9:30 a.m. Burial will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery, Aston.