Our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother and dearest friend, Helen Healey, passed into the loving arms of her Lord on March 16, 2019. Her strength and courage in the face of adversity and illness will remain inspirations to all who knew her. Helen was born in Pittsfield on July 8, 1920 to Thomas and Ellen Hartigan.
She was educated at St Joseph’s High School and received her nursing degree in 1941 at what was then Bishop Memorial Nursing School in Pittsfield. It was at this time she met the love of her life, William H. Healey. They married on April 6, 1942 and began a lifetime of love and the creation of a wonderful family.
While Bill enlisted in the Navy, serving in the Pacific during WWII, Helen was an active mother for their first two children. Helen had a caring and generous nature, a curious mind, a love of reading and learning, a lifelong interest in making new friends and nourishing old relationships. She and Bill loved their post-retirement trips to various Caribbean islands with their youngest child Theresa.
Following his untimely death in 1977, she found strength in her faith and reinvented herself as an independent woman with a mission to forge ahead, see her youngest daughter off into the world, and embrace everything life had to offer. She became active in the church, in meditation groups, and various charitable efforts including reading for the blind. Not one to turn away from a new opportunity, Helen leaped at the chance to attend lectures, enjoy plays, visit Ireland on her own, travel in Europe with her oldest daughter, Martha, and fit in visits to her sons’ families in Oklahoma and Texas.
Helen eagerly engaged with her grandchildren, was always in attendance at their various sporting and school activities, and enjoyed frequent phone conversations with them all, near and far. Helen was the undisputed beating heart of her large family, now numbering 46 direct descendants living in 6 states, who all remained in close communication with her. Her best traits of inner strength, generosity, optimism, outreach, and resilience are mirrored in her two daughters, Martha and Theresa who, through their love and untiring efforts, have together added immeasurable happiness and quality to Helen’s life — especially in her final years.
Survivors include her sister, Louise Ducharme of Lenox, and her 4 children: Martha Chutjian of Milford CT, Theresa Apple (Peter) of Pittsfield, Bill Healey (Nancy Wigglesworth) of Dallas TX, and Thomas Healey (Kirsti) of Crowley, TX; also son-in-law Jack Nelson of Plainfield, MA. and daughter-in-law Mary Healey of Lenox. Other relatives who will long cherish her memory and sing her song include 15 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren, and 5 great, great grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
She is pre-deceased by son-in law, John Chutjian. The family would like to acknowledge the exceptional care Helen received from the nurses at the Berkshire VNA, especially Melinda, and HospiceCare in the Berkshires, her aides Lisa and Nissa,, as well as the 4 years of loving care and friendship from the wonderful staff at Melbourne Place. Funeral Notice: Funeral services for Helen Healey will be Thursday, March 21, 2019, with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 9 a.m. at St. Joseph Church, celebrated by Msgr.
Michael Shershanovich, Pastor. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery. Calling hours at the Dwyer Funeral Home will be Wednesday evening, March 20, 2019 from 4 to 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Berkshire Chapter of Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic or the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield’s Public Library, where they will be used to purchase audiobooks, in care of the Dwyer Funeral Home, 776 North St., Pittsfield, MA 01201 in her memory.
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