Mary Rita was born May 25, 1922, in Daviess County, Ky., the second of five children of Joseph Alexander (Jr.) and Minnie Catherine Ballard Stuart. She grew up in a religious family where prayer, the Mass and the Sacraments were an important part of family life. She first learned the love of God from her parents.
Mary Rita’s formal education began at St. Alphonsus School with Sister Agnes Catherine Williams as her first grade teacher. She completed her elementary education at St. Raphael School. She attended high school at Mount Saint Joseph Academy.
After graduating from high school, Mary Rita got a job at General Electric in Owensboro, Ky. During this time, she and her sister, Helen, attended daily Mass at St. Stephen Cathedral. Father Charles Saffer became her confessor and confidant. During this time, she felt a call to religious life, and a few months later applied to Mother Laurine Sheeran for entrance. But her physical exam showed that she still had a heart murmur and a leakage, which prevented her from entering. Nevertheless, Father Saffer encouraged her to pray and trust in God. He told her not to give up on a religious vocation.
In August 1948, the Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima was brought to St. Meinrad, Ind. Mary Rita went there and prayed to our Blessed Mother. She asked that God give her health and courage to enter if He was calling her to religious life. Our Lady of Fatima obtained a miracle for her.
Mary Rita entered the MSJ novitiate on February 2, 1949. She received the habit on August 14, 1949, and was given the name Sister Helen Ann. Her first teaching assignment was at St. James in Louisville. She taught primary grades in Mayfield, Jeffersontown, Owensboro, Leitchfield, St. Joseph, Loretto and Hardinsburg, Ky. She also tutored children several summers at St. Angela Home in Louisville and at Brescia College in Owensboro. After 35 years in the classroom, Sister retired to the Motherhouse, where she operated the switchboard full time for five years. Sr. Helen Ann retired from the switchboard in June 2002.
Sister Helen Ann died April 15, 2012. Her funeral Mass was April 19 in the Motherhouse Chapel. Her remains are buried in the convent cemetery.