Helen Elizabeth Burch

Helen was born in Los Angeles, California on July 5, 1932. She was the daughter of Catharine Grill Burch and Joseph Burch. Along with her parents and her younger brother James Carroll (Jim), Helen grew up in a tight-knit community of families whose lives centered around church and school. To this day friendships forged in childhood remain. After attending St. Anselm grad school in Southwest Los Angeles Helen gradated from St. Mary’s Academy (Inglewood) in 1950.

Helen next began an adventure that would mold her future. She joined a Catholic religious order – Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters. For the next twenty years she continued her education, earning a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from St. Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri) and a master’s degree from Fordham University (New York City). In the 1950’s Helen worked primarily in the San Joaquin Valley and Coastal communities of California among migrant farm workers. During years of the Vatican Council (1962-64) she worked for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Office in the beginning years of its Office of Religious Education. Helen and Sister Alma Bill coauthored textbooks that were published by Sadlier Publishing Company. These books helped introduce young people to changes taking place in the Church.

In 1970 Helen left the Missionary Sisters and began a new way of serving people. She became a Research Analyst and worked for Los Angeles County Planning Commission and the County’s Office on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. In 1980, Helen left County employment and started her own company called “HelpNet”, an Employee Assistance Company. For 25 years HelpNet provided licensed counseling and treatment referrals to employees and families of HelpNet’s client organizations.

During these work years and after Helen retired, she was involved in her hobby of doing family history research, she and her cousin Jim Burch of Detroit organized several large family reunions in Kentucky and Michigan. And Helen herself home-produced booklets telling the life stories of her parents and their ancestors.

Finally, Helen was involved in activities at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Long Beach. She participated in the parish Prayer Group, served as a Eucharistic Minister, and for over 25 years worked with Paul Czerwnski and Antonia Meza in the Foreign Mission Outreach project in Tijuana, Mexico. She was also involved in promoting activities of the Southern California Renewal Communities (SCRC).

Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Catharine Burch and by her brother James (Jim) Burch. She is survived by sister-in-law Carmen Burch, niece Christine Burch Caceres, nephews David (Sedley) Burch, Erik (Deborah) Burch and Michael (Linda) Burch along with numerous grand nieces and nephews.