Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
June 6, 2001
Retired Sister now author
Sister Weber's motto: `For God's sake, do something'
By Alwen Bledsoe
With an M.A. in theology, a Ph.D. in educational administration, and years of service in high level positions in Catholic education, Sister Helen Weber, C.PP.S., says her 50 years of service to the Church afforded her remarkable freedom and opportunities most women of her generation never had.
"I think the greatest thing is that I've been able to do things rather unlimited," she said. "I think religious life is often viewed as a way of controlling its members, but, in fact, I think we're freer than many other people are. I was encouraged at a very young age to use my gifts of leadership."
"We were encouraged to develop those leadership skills at a much earlier age than our female counterparts," she added. "I think that religious life allowed me to develop these gifts and to use these gifts for the benefit of the Church and the benefit of the people."
Born July 24, 1933 in the farmlands of Ohio, Weber said she began contemplating the religious life while still in high school.
"I wanted to be a teacher, but I wanted to be more than a teacher," she said. "I wanted to make a difference in people's lives," a desire that she said came directly from her mother, Mary Weber, who constantly told her to "make a difference."
"Her favorite statement," said Weber, laughing, "was, `For God's sake, do something.'"
Perhaps her mother did not expect to be taken literally, but in 1951 Weber joined the Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio and devoted her life to just that —doing something "for God's sake."
During her religious life, "an insatiable curiosity for learning" took her to the University of Colorado where she received a B.A. in elementary education at a time when females were a rare sight in classrooms. At University of California, San Diego, she received her Ph.D. in educational administration, and finally at Notre Dame earned an M.A. in theology.
In 1963 she was sent to Denver to help start All Saints, a Catholic elementary school, and, at the age of 29, became the first principal of the school. She went on to hold positions as director of education for the Colorado Council of Churches, superintendent of diocesan schools in Saginaw, Mich., and secretary of education on the bishop's cabinet in the Diocese of Toledo.
After years in the high-level position, which often kept her segregated from the people in the programs she oversaw, she wanted to come back to Denver before retirement to work more directly with people, she said. She ended her career as principal at St. Pius X elementary in Aurora.
"To come back into the school scene and be with real people and real kids was a great way to end my career," she said.
Though now retired, Weber has hardly slowed her pace, now devoting her days to writing a series of books about women who have been a part of her religious community. The first in the series, "The Legacy Continues, Vol. 1," came out last year.
"I'm writing stories about our Sisters who were like unsung heroes doing marvelous stuff, but nobody's ever heard of them," she explained.
"I think that people should not live and then die and then nobody remembers them," she continued. "You know, we don't have children, and so our children and grandchildren never remember us. These women were great so I'm telling their stories."
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