Sister Helen Moore, SNJM
(M. Gertrude Anne)
December 30, 1924 – May 22, 2018
Sister Helen Moore, SNJM departed this life on May 22, 2018
at Marie-Rose Center at Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Sister Helen celebrated 93 years of life and 72 years of her religious profession.
Her Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at Chapel of the Holy Names, Lake Oswego, Oregon. Her burial will take place following the funeral at Holy Names Cemetery, Marylhurst, Oregon.
Sister Helen Moore, SNJM
Sister M. Gertrude Anne
December 30, 1924 – May 22, 2018
Sister Helen Moore (Sister M. Gertrude Anne), age 93, died at the Marie-Rose Center at Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst in Lake Oswego, May 22, 2018. A member of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary for 72 years, her funeral will be held at 11 a.m., June 6, 2018, in the Chapel of the Holy Names, Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Daughter of George and Gertrude Fleck Moore, Helen grew up in The Dalles, Oregon. She attended St. Mary’s Academy in The Dalles, following a long family tradition begun by her grandmother, Katie Herke Fleck, a student there in the 1880s.
She entered the Sisters of the Holy Names in 1943 and received the name Sister M. Gertrude Anne. She enjoyed a long career in education as a middle-grade teacher in Holy Names schools in Portland, Salem, St. Paul, Coos Bay, Astoria, Medford, St. Helens, and Uniontown in Washington
From her childhood Sister Helen loved art. At age four, she sketched an imaginary train waiting at the right side of the doorway of her home with boxcars following around the house and the caboose taking a breather at the left side of the door. In the later years of her life, she is enjoyed the freedom to paint — drawing, painting, and marketing greeting cards in her studio.
Many who knew Sister Helen remarked on her wonderful, open smile and her gracious, welcoming presence. She once said of herself that “the grace for me as a Sister is gratitude to God and to so many people for the faith and the ability that I have for doing what I think God called me to do.”
Sister Helen had the firm belief that through prayer all things were possible and she prayed for people. This included those she used to meet on her frequent rides on city buses about Portland. She said “I try to connect with them to bring light and hope, loving them as God wants me to love them. And in these short conversations, many have opened my eyes by their goodness and love.” Her prayer was that of gratitude, for her faith, her family, the Church, the Holy Names Community and every person she met along the way. No names were greater to her than those of Jesus and His Mother Mary.
Sister Helen is survived by her sisters Agnes Brown of Tygh Valley, Oregon, and Frances McCall of White Salmon, Washington, numerous nieces and nephews, and the members of her religious community. Remembrances may be made to Sisters of the Holy Names, P.O. Box 398, Marylhurst, OR 97036 or online at www.snjmusontario.org/donate.