Helen Rolwing

CHARLESTON - Sister Helen Rolwing, Orders of Sisters of Ursuline (OSU), 81, died at 6 a.m. March 4, 2002, at the Charleston Manor.

Born Feb. 10, 1921, in Charleston, daughter of the late Otto J. and Ethel Newcum Rolwing, she entered the novitiate of the Ursuline Sisters in 1939 and pronounced her first vows in 1942. A 1945 graduate of the College of New Rochelle, N.Y., with a major in Latin and minor in history, she began her teaching career from 1945-47 at the Ursuline Academy in Kirkwood and then taught in several schools in the St. Louis area until 1960. She then completed her masters degree from St. Louis University with an emphasis continuing in Latin and history.

In September 1960, she traveled to the Ursuline Generalate of Rome for a year of renewal and when she returned in 1961, she taught schools in Springfield, Decatur and Chicago, Ill., area schools until 1973, when she returned to Charleston to care for her mother. In 1978, Sister Rolwing completed a masters degree of divinity through Creighton University in Ohaha, Neb. Following her mother's death in 1986, she remained in Charleston and continued her ministry of compassion and care, including 19 years of traveling to Puebla, Mexico, where she taught English for mission schools.

A member of St. Henry Catholic Church, Sister Rolwing was a devoted educator and pastoral minister. She was noted for her efforts in establishing the Charleston Ministerial Alliance. Among her many accomplishments, she published an article in "The Catholic School Journal," poems in the "National Poetry Anthology," served as organist in the parishes where she taught and enjoyed participation in the Southern Illinois Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Sister Rolwing was also involved with community activities as a member of the Charleston Community Choir and Mississippi County Historical Society.

Surviving are four brothers, Norbert Rolwing, Mark Rolwing and Patrick Rolwing of Charleston and John Francis Rolwing of Wyatt; two sisters, Margaret Stricker of Charleston and Rosemary Orr of Kirkwood; and her dearly loved nieces, nephews and their families.

She was preceded in death by one sister, Miriam Rolwing who was a major with the U.S. Air Force Nurses Corps.

Visitation is from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at McMikle Funeral Home, where a prayer service is scheduled for 7 p.m.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Henry Catholic Church. The Rev. Gerald Brown, pastor, and her cousin, Monsignor Richard Rolwing, pastor of St. Mary Cathedral in Cape Girardeau, will serve as concelebrants.

Burial will follow in the Texas Bend Cemetery north of Charleston.

Pallbearers will be Ronnie Rolwing, Carl Stricker, Sam Orr, Charles Moxley, Jim Rolwing and Tim Rolwing.

Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Charleston Ministerial Alliance.

Memorial contributions

may be sent to

St. Henry Catholic Church

304 Court St.

Charleston, Mo. 63834

or the

Charleston Ministerial Alliance

P.O. Box 422

Charleston, Mo. 63834

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