Martha Louise Ebelhar was born on January 17, 1933, in Sorgho, located in Daviess County, Ky. Her parents were Leo Ebelhar and Helen Cecilia Russell Ebelhar. Her siblings included five sisters and four brothers. They were Thomas Hugh Ebelhar, Clarence Alphonsus Ebelhar, Barbara Ann Ebelhar Powers, Patricia Marie Ebelhar-Mearkle, Robert Douglas Ebelhar, Francis Russell Ebelhar, Mary Leo Ebelhar-Guinn, Helen Elizabeth Ebelhar Heinstedler and Beverly Cecilia Ebelhar.
Martha Louise’s father was born in Mariah Hill, Ind., in 1898; her mother was born in St. Raphael, Ky., in 1904. Martha Louise was baptized 11 days after she was born, on January 28, 1933, in St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sorgho. She was confirmed in the same church on May 15, 1940, by Bishop Cotton.
She attended elementary school at St. Mary Magdalene in Sorgho, and high school at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. She attended Brescia College and received her bachelor’s degree in education in May 1967.
Martha Louise entered religious life on September 7, 1951, just a few months after graduating from the Academy, She was received into the Novitiate on August 14, 1952, being given the name Sister Helen Leo in honor of her parents. Later, on August 14, 1954, she made her First Profession of Vows and professed her Final Vows on August 15, 1957.
Her first teaching assignment was in 1954 at St. Columba School in Louisville. She went on to teach in nine different elementary schools in Kentucky and was principal at two of the Catholic schools.
After ministering in education for 28 years, Sister Helen Leo served as Sacristan at the Motherhouse for nine years. She then spent the next 20 years in family ministry to her mother and her sister, Beverly. She also served her religious community by driving Sisters to doctor’s appointments and other places.
In 2011, Sister Helen Leo retired and joined the Powerhouse of Prayer. Her health slowly deteriorated and at 87, she died on November 10, 2020, in her 68th year of religious life. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, November 13, 2020, in the Motherhouse Chapel. Burial was in the convent cemetery.