Helen and her husband, the late John J. Mullins, raised their family in Reading. She grew up in Kennebunk, Maine, where most of her family still resides including Robert Towne, his wife Geraldine (Green), their son, Ryan Towne, and their daughter, Amy Martel, her husband Tim, and her children Mathew, Jacob and Heather.
Helen graduated from Kennebunk High School in 1941 and attended McIntosh College in Dover, New Hampshire. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Boston, Mass., to find work as a secretary. On New Year’s Eve 1952 she was set up on a blind date with her future husband John at the Somerville Elks and they were married the following July. Helen continued to work while they lived in Cambridge and then in Reading until they started a family in 1959. Helen was unfailingly empathetic, especially toward those who were struggling or in pain. She was naturally kind and compassionate and loved her family and friends unconditionally.
Helen was also predeceased by her brothers, William Towne and his wife Sally, Hugh Towne, and Fred Towne; her late sisters, Catherine Hanson and her husband Rodney, Elizabeth Boston Cashen and her husbands Roy Boston and Eddie Cashen, Madeline Sargent and her husband Willard; her late nephews Thomas Boston, William Boston, David Sargent, and Peter Sargent; and her late nieces, Martha (Towne) Riley and Elizabeth (Sargent) Gendron.
She will be lovingly remembered by her family who currently live or have lived in Kennebunk: Donald Gendron, Teresa Gendron, Sandra Gendron, Angela Gendron, Chelsea Burnell, Meghan Emerson, William Towne, Patricia (Towne) Graffam, Michael Towne and his wife Betty, John Towne and his wife Marilyn, Maureen Towne, Mary Hyland and her husband John, Linda Fecteau, and Susan Sargent. She will also be dearly missed by the Moubhij family, her sisters-in-law, Phyllis Mullins and Mary Mullins, and her many nieces and nephews in the Mullins family.
Her funeral will be held from the Croswell Funeral Home, 19 Bow Street, North Reading, on Saturday, October 23 at 10 a.m., followed by a noon funeral Mass at St. Theresa’s Church, 63 Winter Street (Rte. 62), North Reading. Calling hours will be held prior to the funeral from 10 to 11:20 a.m. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery in North Reading.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in her memory to: Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts, 20 Commercial Drive, Suite 1, Wrentham, MA, 02093 (https://www.hospicefed.org/donations).
To leave an online message of condolence please visit: www.croswellfuneralhome.com.
