Eulogy of Sister Helen Worth, SSA

This was the hand that made the sign of the cross when she did her First Holy Communion in Esquimalt in 1922. The same hand that waved to the fans when she greeted them as Miss Esquimalt in 1940. The hand that held the baton that guided so many music students at St.Augustine’s and Little Flower Academy, and St. Patrick’s. 

This very hand that carefully modeled the letters that so many students would use as a guide to learn to print and write. This hand that wrote so many letters to her family over the years, celebrating birthdays, babies, promotions, anniversaries or just sending a thank you for a card or letter she had received. This hand that produced such beautiful calligraphy for special occasions held by the Sisters, or by the church.

This was the same hand she used to demonstrate that a friend in hospital was, as she put it, “Limited.” The hand she used to hold her voluminous notes so she could read the grace at family functions -- a grace that covered topics far and wide and much contributed to the yearning for food. Always she remembered the dearly departedand she was thorough.

This hand held the blue stone ring that so mysteriously appeared during her days living at St. Ann’s Residence. A ring she said she had secreted since receiving it from a young suitor prior to entering the order. We know there was such a suitor -- a young man named Davies, whose heart was broken when Helen Worth entered the convent. He went to see her, the story goes, but was turned away at the door. Inside, a teenage Sr. Eileen was saying to fellow novitiate Helen Worth, age 24 –“So you’ve decided to give your old bones to God.”

The hand I held did a lot more in the 99 years she used it. But nothing more important than holding on to my hand at that moment, while she slept one of her last sleeps.

I mentioned the trans-Atlantic crossing. Helen had an unusual start in life. Her mother, Annie Theresa Worth was 3 months pregnant with her when, in December 1915 she crossed Canada by train, then crossed the Atlantic by passenger liner. German U-boats were sinking all manner of vessel, averaging 30 a month at this time, including passenger vessels. They had declared Unrestricted Submarine Warfare in the North Sea, and had already sunk the Lusitania on May 7 and the SS Arabic on August 19.

So, into this uncertain path Annie Worth, age 29 sailed with her son William, age 4, daughter Eileen, age 18 months and Helen in the womb. Well, they made it and Helen was born in Devon on April 27, 1916. But just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, Nana Worth sailed back to Canada in October, 1917. 

There had been a hiatus in the German strategy of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare after 1915, but they reinstated it in 1917. The Allies lost 301 ships in the first three months of 1917 to sinkings by U-boat. So this must have seemed like a good opportunity to sail back to Canada with one year old Helen and three year old Eileen. William had died of diphtheria in Devon.

The Worth family made it to Montreal. Then by rail to Esquimalt to join Helen’s father, Ernest Charles Worth. Helen never revealed, if she knew, what was going on with her parents that her mother would leave him and risk their lives to travel through and to a war zone. But the marriage didn’t survive, and Helen, Eileen and later Ernie were raised by Nana Worth alone. Helen went to St. Ann’s Academy where her tuition was paid by their neighbor on Pine Street, Lt. Cmdr. and Mrs. Cosette. The Cosettes had no children and wanted to help.

Helen’s decision to enter the Sisters of St. Ann was greatly influenced by her teachers at St. Ann’s Academy, particularly Sister Mary Noreen, who taught her music. In 2002 she wrote, “As a student at SAA, I was privileged to receive music lessons from Sr. Noreen. Having performed professionally before her entry, Sister now brought the Academy record of achievement to a level of excellence…Eventually I returned to St. Ann’s Academy for a lifetime performance as a Sister of St. Ann. My “Sister Act” has now lasted sixty years.”

She entered in 1940, three years after her brother Ernie entered the Royal Canadian Navy. She said he was fighting in the Battle of the Atlantic and she was entering the Order to pray for him. That worked out for both of them, and as it turned out, for me, too…Auntie Nell played an important role in the House of Worth.

She loved her mother and was very attentive to her always. Nana Worth (of U-boat evading fame) lived her later years at Rose Manor, right across the street from where Auntie Nell eventually lived at MSM. Many cards and letters in my possession speak to the love of this daughter for her mother, who also died at MSM, the old one on Burdett. After 50 years of profession, in 1992 she wrote, “This arrangement for my Golden Jubilee honours my parents Anne Hayes and Ernest Worth. They gave me the gift of life and the gift of faith.”

She was an anchor for my dad, her brother Ernie, and a big support to my mother Edna, another woman of strong faith whom Helen helped endure much hardship and poor health. Her sister Eileen had a difficult life and Auntie Nell loved her and supported her and lamented her death in 1986 until her final days.