SPOKANE - Helen Foley, the mother of House Speaker Tom Foley, has died at age 88.

Mrs. Foley, who had been in failing health for some time, died Thursday night at St. Joseph Care Center. Until recently, she had remained in the family home on the city's South Hill.

Helen Higgins, one of seven children of Irish immigrants Stephen and Anne Higgins, was a schoolteacher in Mansfield, Douglas County, when she married Ralph Foley in 1926. Ralph Foley, a former Spokane County prosecutor and longtime Superior Court judge, died in April 1985 at age 84.

Mrs. Foley is survived by her son; a daughter, Mrs. Richard Latimer of Santa Rosa, Calif.; and five grandchildren. Services are

pending.