Sister Jo Goolish in 1972
The late Sister Claire Krzysiek
Sister Magdalene Lovrich in 1970
Sister David Webster in the 1980s
Unforgettable Life Lessons
KATHLEEN HELFRICH-MILLER | MOUNT ASSISI ACADEMY 1972
Throughout Women’s History Month, our alumnae are honoring members of the School Sisters of St. Francis
who touched their lives back then and who they consider to have been especially influential in who they are now.
Kathleen in 1972
Sister Jo Goolish today
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THEN
The Sisters at Mount Assisi Academy shaped my life and values even to this day, almost 49 years later. Unfortunately, many of them have passed away.
I remember Sister Jean Kasko (known as Sister Andrew to me). She was tough and expected the best from us. She would often caution me to slow down in my thirst for knowledge and be more considerate of others. I always wanted to be the best at everything I did, and she would caution me to not “take the pound of flesh nearest the heart,” a quote from Shakespeare. I learned valuable life lessons from her, although I would never admit it at the time!
Our principal, Sister Claire Krzysiek, died of cancer when I was a senior. She taught me dignity and strength and, in her passing, how to handle grief. She was missed terribly by the whole senior class at the time.
Sister Jo (Goolish) taught me art and to see the beauty in all creation, even the tiniest things. Sister Claire taught me music. Sister Magdalene (Lovrich) taught me graciousness.
My children attended Mount Assisi Academy Preschool, where Sister David (Webster) made a profound and lasting impact on my oldest child.
I live very close to Mt. Assisi and still sometimes visit the cemetery where many of the Sisters are buried. Doing so reminds me of my high school years, with lessons learned, lessons forgotten, and lessons that would deepen my faith in God and shape me as the person I have become.
Now
After earning her doctorate in speech language pathology at the University of Pittsburgh, Kathleen owned Rehabilitations Specialists, a private practice speech therapy clinic — located just down the road from ‘The Mount’ in Bellevue — for almost 40 years. “As part of that practice, I would screen the speech and hearing of all of the children at Mount Assisi Academy Preschool, so I would get to visit at least yearly,” she says. She recently sold the practice and retired to spend more time with her four grandchildren.
Principal of Mount Assisi Academy from 1970 to 1972, Sister Claire Krzysiek died of liver cancer on May 28, 1972. She is buried in St. Francis Cemetery at Mt. Assisi Place in Pittsburgh.
Sister Jo Goolish moved to San Antonio, Texas, in 1972, where she taught art for many years at St. Joseph School and our former St. Francis Academy there. She only recently retired from teaching after 18 years with St. Gerard Catholic High School.
Sister David — known these days as Sister Barbara Ann Webster — taught English at our mission in Chile in the 1980s and then ministered for more than 20 years in Arizona, working with children, Native Americans, adults seeking their GEDs, and prisoners. In late 2016, she retired back to Mount Assisi Convent, now Mt. Assisi Place, where she keeps busy by repurposing and recycling common household items into unique crafts.
Mount Assisi Academy Preschool moved from the Mount Assisi campus in 2018, reopened at McKnight United Methodist Church in nearby Ross Township and is now know as Amazing Scholar Academy Preschool.
“The Sisters there shaped my life and values even to this day, almost 49 years later. ”
Kathleen today
Sister Barbara Ann Webster today