Mary Helen Thuente

Mary Helen Thuente, 79, of Cary, NC passed away peacefully December 3, 2025 at WakeMed Hospital in Cary. Mary Helen was born on March 21, 1946 in Evergreen Park, IL to Frank Anthony and Helen Mulcahy Ernst.  She is survived by her husband of 58 years, David, and by their two sons Daniel (Bridget) and Michael (Erin Ketch) and five grandchildren, Joseph, Nicholas, James, Leah, and Brendan, and by her brother Frank Ernst.  Mary Helen was preceded in death by her parents and her younger sister Frances.

Mary Helen graduated from Mother of Sorrows High School in Blue Island, IL in 1963 and Clarke University in Dubuque, IA in 1967 at the top of her classes and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. She received her Ph.D. (English) from the University of Kansas in 1973 with the main concentration being Irish Literature with major emphasis on William Butler Yeats and Irish Folklore.  Indeed, she would spend much of her academic career teaching, doing research on, and publishing in the areas of Irish Literature and its relationship to Irish history, politics, and music.  

Mary Helen’s ancestry was seven-eighths Irish, but she had German maiden and married names.  However, no one ever doubted that she was totally Irish given her academic and personal pursuits.  Her first book was the definitive work on W. B. Yeats and Irish Folklore and received great critical acclaim.  A subsequent book and many dozens of publications looked both back to the 18th century and forward to current Irish authors and playwrights. Most of her early work required use of libraries in Ireland.  She traveled to Ireland perhaps 50 times for research, conferences, and discovering her roots and visiting relatives.  This was great fun and a real joy in her life.

After completing her Ph.D., she served as an instructor at the University of Kansas and taught many years at Indiana University Fort Wayne, where she introduced many Irish and folklore courses.  She served as English Department Head for 15 years there and at North Carolina State University, where she moved in 2001.  At North Carolina State University, she also introduced and frequently taught many Irish courses.  Although she was an administrator for many years, teaching, mentoring, and research was what she enjoyed most in academics. She was an outstanding, much-awarded teacher and received the highest University Teaching Award in 1987.  

She made many contributions in her professional life, including leading both major Irish academic societies: The American Conference for Irish Studies and the International Association for the Study of Irish Literature Conference.  She organized and hosted many conferences in the US, Ireland, and Europe. She was a well-seasoned traveler even before she finished graduate school.  She and David spent three months traveling Europe and Ireland and always had wonderful tales to tell.  Later, she and David often had European conferences that were combined into the same trip. They continued to share their love of travel with long foreign trips right up to her cancer recurrence.

Mary Helen was a voracious reader, having read many thousands of books and passing them on to friends and colleagues.  She also completely scanned three daily newspapers and clipped articles of interest to others and sent the articles to people around the world.  

Mary Helen’s greatest joy in her last 22 years, if not life, was her grandchildren. She was 500 and 1000 miles away from them, but long babysitting stints while their parents traveled built lasting bonds, and visiting them for many holidays made them feel much closer.  Mary Helen cooked everyone’s favorite foods every time she came.  She always organized the food for the many vacation trips with them for summer adventures or winter skiing.  On every visit to the grandchildren, she brought well-planned, interesting gifts.  Indeed, Mary Helen essentially never went to anyone’s home without a thoughtful and caring gift.  For many years, whenever the grandchildren visited in Cary, she hosted a treasure hunt with literary and rhyming clues. 

Mary Helen had metastatic breast cancer in 1999 and attacked it aggressively so as to achieve remission until it recurred in 2022.  New and varied drug treatments helped to slow the progression of the cancer until the last few months when the cancer triggered hypercalcemia.  She then declined rapidly but without pain. She put up a valiant fight in 1999 and these last three years.

The Funeral Mass and Celebration of Life will be Friday January 9, 2026 at 3:00 pm at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, 715 Nazareth St. Raleigh, with visitation from 2:15 to 2:45 pm in the cathedral vestibule and following Mass in the Parish Center.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in her name to the Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Catholic Parish Outreach, or NCSU English Department Scholarship Fund. Links to Mary Helen’s favorite charities can be found in the “donations” section.