Marlborough – Sister Helen Blessed Sacrament Lussier died Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016 at St. Patrick’s Manor after an illness. Sister was 90 years of age and had been a Contemplative Sister of the Good Shepherd for 72 years.
Sister Helen was the daughter of Arthur and Bertha May (Nugent) Lussier of Providence, R.I. She attended Mary Immaculate High School in Providence, R.I. and then entered the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Providence in 1943. She pronounced her first vows in 1946 and made final profession in 1956.
Sister Helen was a very talented seamstress and generously shared her skill in the sewing department for 12 years. She was then missioned to the Contemplative community in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she engaged in the work of making altar breads for the parishes in the Brooklyn diocese. In 1963, the Good Shepherd community moved to Dix Hills, N.Y., where Sister Helen continued her work in the altar bread department.
In 1992 Sister Helen served as local community leader in the Contemplative community and also served on the Province Council for the Contemplatives. She retired to the Contemplative community in Wickatunk, N.J. in 2008. Due to failing health, Sister later transferred to Good Shepherd Center in Marlborough in 2011.
Sister Helen is survived by her sister, Patricia Nugent of Idaho; two brothers, Leon Lussier of Florida and Arthur Lussier of Connecticut, as well as many loving nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her sister, Donna Crandall.
Visiting hours will be held Thursday, Feb. 11, from 4-8 p.m., at Good Shepherd Center, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered for Sister Helen Friday, Feb. 12, at 11 a.m., at Good Shepherd Center. Burial will be at Mt. Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home of Marlborough (www.CollinsFuneral.com).
Expressions of sympathy in Sister Helen’s memory may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, MA 01752.
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd were founded by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in Angers, France in 1835, in the United States (Louisville, KY) in 1843, and in Boston in 1867.
