Helen Dowd CSJ

1928 - 2022

Sister Helen Dowd (Sister Mary St. John), a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, West Hartford, CT died at Brookdale, West Hartford, CT on December 4, 2022. Born in Hartford, CT on June 27, 1928 of the late John Joseph Dowd and Nellie Mary (McKeon), Sister Helen entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on September 8, 1948 and celebrated her Profession of Vows on August 24, 1954. At the time of her death she was 94 years of age and in her 74th year of Religious Life. Sister Helen earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Diocesan Sisters College, West Hartford, CT and a Master's Degree in Special Education from St. Joseph University, West Hartford, CT. Having taught for twenty-one years in the Archdiocese of Hartford Schools, Sister Helen founded the Intensive Education Center at the Provincial House of the Sisters of St. Joseph on Park Rd, West Hartford, with the primary focus on students with special learning needs. This would become what was known as "The School Built on Love." As this ministry and the school expanded, it moved to a new site in West Hartford which was a former synagogue and under a new name – the Intensive Education Academy. As Sister Helen's vision grew, so did the school, as an Arts Center and the Ellen Jeanne Goldfarb Auditorium were established. Sister Helen often voiced that much of her success was accomplished through the assistance of many benefactors, friends, staff, Board of Directors and the Women's Auxiliary. Through IEA, numerous students were able to succeed in life, reaching their full potential and paying forward the talents and kindness they received. Sister Helen was a great support to the families of the students. She was a prayerful woman of faith who valued family, loyalty, love and devotion to others. The Dowd family and the Sisters of St. Joseph wish to thank Sister Helen's caregivers who were so compassionate to her these past 16 months. In addition to her Sisters in Community, Sister Helen is survived by her nephew Robert Dowd and his wife Terry of Arizona, her nieces Jeanne Dowd of West Hartford, Joanna Dowd Kohfeld of Oregon, and 8 great-nephews and 9 great grandnephews and grandnieces. She is predeceased by her three brothers, James, Charles and John and sisters-in-law Agnes Dowd and Florence Dowd. Sister Helen's Funeral Mass and Wake will be held on Friday, December 9, 2022 at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, 467 South Quaker Lane, West Hartford. The wake will begin at 9:30 a.m., the Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m., followed by the burial at the Sisters of St. Joseph Cemetery on Ringgold Street in West Hartford. If unvaccinated, please wear a mask. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider a memorial donation to the Intensive Education Academy, 840 North Main Street, West Hartford, CT 06117 or to the Sisters of St. Joseph, c/o Office of Mission Advancement, 650 Willard Avenue, Newington, CT 06111. Fisette-Batzner Funeral Home, 20 Bonair Avenue, Newington, has care of the arrangements.