Helen C. Mourra

Helen Conroy Mourra, 93, entered eternal life on Monday 11 July 2022 surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Helen was born in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Queens, New York on 25 May 1929 to James J. Conroy, Jr. and Helen Smith Conroy. She was the second eldest of seven children. She loved the beach and often reminisced about her childhood on Rockaway Beach and swimming with her siblings, her father and grandfather in the afternoons. Her family moved to a farm in Olney, Maryland when she was in her teens.

Being a trail-blazing woman of the times, she attended Duquesne University where she met the love of her life, Jean Georges Mourra, the son of Palestinian immigrants to Haiti. They were separated for two years, during which time Jean Georges returned to Haiti to begin preparations for their life together and Helen returned to her family’s farm in Olney. They wrote letters to each other every day—letters which then were carried across the sea in boats. Helen and Jean Georges always laughed about how neighbors would listen in on his calls to her on the farm’s party line.

They were a striking couple whose poise, elegance and deep love for each other often drew attention, although they were both modest and reserved.

They married in Olney, Maryland in 1951 and Jean Georges then took her back to Haiti where they would build their life together and raise their tremendous family of six children, seventeen grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Their grandson Jonathan was raised in the family home, and he brought so much joy and laughter to Helen and Georges’ lives. Both referred to those days as ‘the good old days.’ Helen was a gentle, caring and loving mother who never raised a voice once at any of her six children and she was a lovingly devoted wife. She was witty and had a wonderful sense of humor.

Helen was a gracious and kind person, and throughout her life she supported charities and international relief organizations across the world, giving endlessly to the poor and disabled. Jean Georges often joked that he spent his life working and earning money and she spent hers giving it away. She was also an unwavering advocate of social justice and environmental integrity through to her last years. She cherished her civil and political rights and, while she was gentle and soft spoken, she was keenly determined for her voice to be heard and to exercise her voting rights.

She was a devoted and loving wife and remained at Jean Georges’ side throughout his years of illness and anyone who witnessed their relationship was moved by the depth of their love, affection and adoration for each other. Their lives and their deaths were a testament to their truly holy matrimony. After Jean Georges passed, she often found comfort in gazing out at the sea and chasing sunsets with her daughter Colleen. She spent hours everyday gazing at pictures of Jean Georges and their seventy years together. In her last hours, she said she saw Jean Georges and spoke to him. Her children know she took flight from this world on the mighty wings of the angel who had been waiting for her since he passed four years earlier. Helen and Jean Georges are now in ascent to the Heavens.

She is survived by her sister Kathleen Conroy Flanagan, her children Jean Georges Mourra, James Thomas Mourra, Donna Maria Mourra, Kathleen Patricia Mourra, Mary Helen Mourra, Colleen Marie Mourra and all their grandchildren and great grandchildren.