Statler Family Obituaries
Whealen, Helen Marie (nee Holzum)
AWARD-WINNING PHYSICAL THERAPIST
Helen Marie Holzum Whealen, a prominent St. Louis physical therapist and a former nun, died Saturday (July 18, 1998) at her Florissant home of complications from cancer. She was 64.
Mrs. Whealen received several awards for physical therapy, including the 1991 Alumni Merit Award from St. Louis University and a 1995 award from the Missouri Physical Therapy Association that was the first of an annual award named after her.
Mrs. Whealen was born in Laflin, Mo., spent her childhood in Leopold, Mo., then moved to St. Louis in 1948 to attend Rosati-Kain High School. In 1949, Mrs. Whealen entered the convent of the Sisters of St. Mary. She was a nun for more than 30 years.
After earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in physical therapy, Mrs. Whealen taught physical therapy at St. Louis University from 1965 to 1985. She served from 1966 to 1969 as chairwoman of the legislative committee of the Missouri Physical Therapy Association that worked for mandatory state licensing of physical therapists.
Mrs. Whealen left the convent in 1982 and married James Whealen in 1983. He died in 1987.
Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at Hutchens Mortuary, 675 Graham Road in Florissant, with a wake service at 8 p.m. Visitation also will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Hutchings Mortuary in Marble Hill, Mo. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. John's Catholic Church in Leopold at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Among the survivors are four sisters, Dorothy Arnzen of Leopold, Wilma Abernathy of Belleville, Sister Leah Marie Holzum, a member of the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis, and Mary Jansen of Leopold.
Printed in the Sunday, July 19, 1998 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO
©2013 by David Statler of StatlerWeb