Helen Louise Blyth was born in Denver, Colorado, on August 30, 1929. Her parents were Allen Blyth and Katherine Teresa Carrullo Blyth. She had an older brother, James, and an older sister, Marietta.
She was baptized at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Denver, on February 26, 1933, when she was 4 years old. She was confirmed at Sacred Heart Church in Denver on May 5, 1938, by Bishop Urban Vehr.
Helen attended Catholic schools in the Denver area and had made up her mind to become a
Sister while she was in grade school. She thought she would join the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, who taught her, and live happily ever after, but it did not exactly happen that way.
During her freshman year of high school, she had a yearlong assignment to create a scrapbook on what she would do for the rest of her life. She thought that she would become a Sister of Charity and make a scrapbook for them. Unfortunately, she came to realize there would not be enough material for an entire scrapbook. She broadened her search to include other religious communities. This is where she encountered the Paola Ursulines and it changed her life.
Helen had never visited Paola before she became a postulant on September 8, 1949. She made Temporary Profession on March 25, 1952, and made Final Profession on March 25, 1955. March 25th was a very special day for the Sisters of Paola.
When it came time to receive her name when entering the novitiate, she submitted three names that she might be given on Investment Day. Sister Marie William was not one of them. She said that Mother Cecilia liked the Sister of Charity who was named Sister Marie William, so she gave Helen that name.
As an Ursuline Sister, she began her teaching career in 1952 at St. Ann School in Prairie Village, Kansas, just three years after coming to Paola. She served 31 years in education in schools as a teacher and principal and 21 years as a Director of Religious Education.
While she was attending a summer workshop with another religious community that had associates, she saw the need for that to begin in Paola. She presented the idea to the leadership in 1980, and the Associate program began in 1982. She became the facilitator in 2000.
In 2005, Sister Marie William moved back to the Motherhouse in Paola. She became the librarian and a receptionist for the community.
When the Ursulines of Paola decided to merge with the Ursulines of Mount Saint Joseph in 2008, Sister Marie William said, “When we visited here, I could see the same spirit. This is a very welcoming community and we fit in.”
She became involved in many activities, one of which was writing the monthly Reflective Moments with Angela for the website. Another was her ability to come up with jokes. She found them in books, online, and many other places. When asked about it, she said, “I have always done it. I say a prayer that I am able to recognize a need in people, to help them in any way that they need. Maybe a joke will breathe some fresh air into their life.”
Sister Marie William, 89, died unexpectedly around 4 a.m. on March 10, 2019, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 69th year of religious life. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 on Thursday, March 14, 2019, in the Motherhouse Chapel. Burial was in the convent cemetery.