A funeral Mass for Sister Mary Helen Stokes (formerly Sister Mary LeClerc) was celebrated Sept. 17 at Theresa Center at Sancta Maria in Ripa in St. Louis. Sister Mary Helen died Aug. 30 at Anna House-The Sarah Community in Bridgeton. The School Sister of Notre Dame was 81 years old.
A memorial Mass also was celebrated on Sept. 18 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Born on April 17, 1944, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City, she was the oldest of three children born to Helen (Phelan) and Clarence Stokes. She was baptized on April 30, 1944, at St. Peter’s Church and named Mary Helen. Two brothers, Charles and Thomas, would complete the Stokes family.
Mary Helen attended St. Peter Interparish School staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame and Helias High School in Jefferson City. In her senior year, with the guidance of a spiritual director and several School Sisters of Notre Dame, she answered the call to enter religious life. She received the postulant veil at St. Joseph Cathedral in Jefferson City on Aug. 26, 1962. She was received into the novitiate on July 31, 1963, and given the name Mary LeClerc. She professed first vows on Aug. 1, 1964, and final vows on Aug. 1, 1969. Later, she returned to her baptismal name.
Sister Mary Helen earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis in 1966 and a master’s degree in mathematics from Webster College (now University) in Webster Groves in 1975.
During her 61 years as a School Sister of Notre Dame, Sister Mary Helen served in a variety of ministries. She taught elementary children at Our Lady of Lourdes in Washington, Missouri; St. Francis Solanus in Quincy, Illinois; St. William, St. Dominic Savio and St. Martin of Tours in St. Louis; and St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville, Illinois.
Sister Mary Helen was a staff member at Cardinal Ritter Institute and Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis. She visited the sick, elderly and infirm at All Souls Parish in Overland. She was a case worker for the BREM Catholic Ministries in St. Louis (a program founded by the former St. Barbara, St. Rose, St. Edward and St. Mark parishes in north St. Louis). In 1988, she became a pastoral associate at St. Wenceslaus in St. Louis and later ministered to the poor at St. Patrick Center in St. Louis.
In 1993, Sister Mary Helen returned to teaching as the coordinator of religious education at St. Gerard Majella Parish in Kirkwood. She taught for five years at St. Elizabeth of Hungary School in Crestwood. She was a resource teacher at St. Anthony of Padua School in St. Louis and Queen of All Saints School in Oakville, where she also served as the religious education coordinator. She then taught at St. Joan of Arc School in St. Louis and was a teacher in the English Tutoring Project in St. Louis
In 2000, Sister Mary Helen received the William T. Kemper Foundation Catholic Elementary Teacher Award for her ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The nomination form for this award cited her dedication to her students, setting high moral and academic standards, creative teaching methods, commitment to classroom management and study skills and her concern for social issues.
In 2009, Sister Mary Helen ministered in pastoral care at Villa Marie Senior Care Center in Jefferson City. During this time, she also cared for her mother. Following her mother’s death in 2018, she continued her ministry at Villa Marie Senior Care Center and volunteered at various places in the Jefferson City area.
She was missioned to Mother of Perpetual Help Residence in St. Louis in 2020. As her health declined, she was transferred to Anna House-The Sarah Community in April 2024. She was placed on hospice in August 2025.
Sister Mary Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Helen and Clarence Stokes. She is survived by her brothers Thomas (Becky) of Jefferson City and Charles (Laurie) of Sherman, Connecticut, extended family members, friends, School Sisters of Notre Dame and SSND associates.
