Her pleasant attitude, generous spirit, and loving heart merited numerous friends for Sister Helen. Her students will long remember her exuberance and passion for the French language.

Sister Helen Fleming, SCSister Helen Fleming (Sister David Marie) was born March 10, 1924, in New York. She was one of five children, two daughters and three sons, of David and Helen Bohen Fleming. Helen attended Our Lady of Angels School, Bronx, and Saint Lawrence Academy, Manhattan. She received her BA in French from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx, before entering the Sisters of Charity of New York on September 8, 1946. Sister David Marie received her MA in French from Fordham University, and later earned permanent state certifications from NY and NJ in French.

Sister Helen began her ministry in education at Cathedral High School, Manhattan, where she taught French for thirteen years. She transferred to the College of Mount Saint Vincent in 1961 and taught French for the next twelve years to the college students, as well as to the children at St. Elizabeth Seton Academy, Yonkers. For a brief time she taught French at West Milford High School in New Jersey.

In 1971 Sister Helen became Chairperson of the Modern Language Department at St. Gabriel High School in New Rochelle. She then returned to the College of Mount Saint Vincent in 1981as Assistant to the President for Special Affairs. From 1984 through 1998, she taught French at Sacred Heart High School, Yonkers. Sister Helen retired in 1998 and continued to volunteer her services wherever needed. She moved to Cabrini of Westchester in 2019 and remained there until her death on November 18, 2019.

Her pleasant attitude, generous spirit, and loving heart merited numerous friends for Sister Helen. Her students will long remember her exuberance and passion for teaching the French language. She was a compassionate, kind, and prayerful person, and her presence at the Convent and Cabrini will be missed by all the Sisters with whom she lived.

We rejoice with Sister Helen as she meets God “face to face” and enjoys eternal happiness with the One whom she served so well as a Sister of Charity. Que notre soeur repose en paix!

Date of Death
November 18, 2019

Age
95

Wake
Mount Saint Vincent Convent Assembly Room
6301 Riverdale Ave., Bronx, NY 10471
718.601.5370
Friday, November 22, 2019
9 a.m.
Reflection/Sharing: 10:30 a.m.

Mass of Christian Burial
Mount Saint Vincent Convent
Assembly Room
Friday, November 22, 2019
11 a.m.

Burial
St. Joseph Cemetery
Yonkers, NY

Missions

Archdiocese of New York

  • Cathedral HS, Manhattan
    1948-61, Teacher, French
  • College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx
    Elizabeth Seton Academy, Yonkers
    1961–73, Teacher, French
  • St. Gabriel HS, New Rochelle
    1975–81, Teacher, Chair of Modern Language Dept.
  • College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx
    1981-84, Asst. to President for Special Affairs
  • Sacred Heart HS, Yonkers
    1984–98, Teacher, French
  • Congregation Services, Bronx
    1998–2008, Volunteer
  • Mount Saint Vincent Convent, Bronx
    2008–2019, Prayer, Service, Witness

New Jersey

  • West Milford HS, West Milford
    1973–74, Teacher