Date of Birth:
Friday, June 24, 1932
Date of Death:
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Age:
91 years old

Sister Helen Haag

Sister Helen Haag, 91, a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, Rochester, Minnesota, died at Assisi Heights on Saturday, August 12, 2023.

Helen Cecelia Haag was born on June 24, 1932, in Waseca, Minnesota, to Charles and Frances (Harguth) Haag. She entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1951, received the name of Sister Damiano, and made perpetual vows in 1957. She received her Master’s in Religious Education from St. Mary’s University, Winona, Minnesota, in 1994.

For more than 20 years, Sister Helen dedicated herself to teaching elementary education, choir, and playing the organ. Between 1954 and 1978, she served at various schools, such as: St. Mary School in Owatonna, Minnesota; St. Adrian School in Adrian, Minnesota; Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Currie, Minnesota; St. Mary School in Las Animas, Colorado; and St. John Vianney School in Fairmont, Minnesota. Sister Helen taught junior and senior high school students and volunteered as a parish worker at Holly Public School in Holly, Colorado, from 1978 to 1989. She also taught as a teacher of junior high students at St. Anthony School in Sterling, Colorado, from 1989 to 1992, and was Director of Religious Education at St. Anthony School from 1992 to 1998. Sister Helen also served as a substitute and GED teacher from 1998 to 2000 in Sterling, Colorado, and then from 2001 to 2003, she served as a GED and junior high school teacher at Northeastern Junior College and St. Anthony School in Sterling, Colorado. Sister Helen continued to serve as a substitute teacher, from 2003 to 2008 in Rochester and Minnesota Lake, Minnesota. She then volunteered as a parish worker in Minnesota Lake, Minnesota, from 2008 to 2011, before retiring to Assisi Heights in December 2011.

Survivors of Sister Helen Haag include her Franciscan Sisters, with whom she shared life for 72 years, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers William and Bernard Haag; and sisters Joan Higgins and Sr. Barbara Haag.

A Resurrection Liturgy will be held at Assisi Heights at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, August 17, 2023. The burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery. To view the funeral via livestream, go to www.rochesterfranciscan.org. Suggested memorials are to the Sisters of St. Francis, Office of Mission Advancement, Assisi Heights, 1001 14^th St. NW, Rochester, MN 55901.