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Late Saturday night, September 6, 2025, Sister Helen Zulka went home to God from her residence at Villa Franciscan Place. At almost 98 years of age, Helen leaves a legacy of uniqueness. Even her last place position in an alphabetical listing of community members was prominently perpetual. After all, who could follow Zu…!
When Helen was born in Toledo, Ohio, on November 24, 1927, to John and Helen, she was embarking on a long journey that would include interactions with two brothers, many cousins and friends, broad education in a variety of fields, ministries of educating and caring for others, and endless efforts to make others laugh.
After graduating from Central Catholic High School in Toledo in 1945, Helen came to the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. In her junior year, she was drawn to the sisters there and, after at first fighting the idea, she joined the Joliet Franciscan community just before turning twenty-one. The BA she received in 1949 from CSF was followed by studies at the Institute of Gerontology in Ann Arbor, Michigan. These studies would serve her well in a later ministry after years of teaching. But Helen wasn’t finished with her education, as schools in Indiana, Wisconsin and Florida can testify.
Known then as Sister John Edward, Helen returned to Ohio to begin her teaching career. After teaching third grade in Mansfield and Worthington, she began a 20-year experience in secondary education (1955-1975) in Ohio, Illinois and Florida. She especially enjoyed teaching art and home economics classes among a variety of subjects.
Read More About Sister Helen’s Life
If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sister Rita or another Joliet Franciscan Sister, please click here: Remembering our Deceased Sisters.
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