Helen was predeceased by Edward, her husband of 54 years, her younger daughter Karen, and her brother Thomas Seabury. She is survived by her oldest daughter Eileen of Manhattan and an adopted donkey Benjy in Belfast, Ireland as well as cousins Bob and Jim Rice, and nieces Joanne Seabury Buyce and Janet Seabury Pressley. Helen treasured many people in her life including Nancy, Monica, David, Diane, Amy, and Maribel.
Helen attended Sacred Heart Parochial School in Suffern and graduated from St. Luke’s Catholic High School in Hohokus, NJ. One of her first jobs as a young girl was selling soda with her brother in their front yard to Avon factory workers on break from the production line. She worked as an usher at the Lafayette Theatre and later commuted to the city for a job with the Arnold Bernstein German-American shipowner and pioneer of transatlantic car transport. Afterwards she devoted herself to raising a family and when most people her age were enjoying retirement, she took a part time job at a local senior citizen facility managing their evening dining operations.
Helen loved nature and was an avid hiker with the Ramapo Historical Hikers. She enjoyed puttering around her house; decorating, cooking and gardening. She was an ardent collector of flow blue dishes and loved to shop. In the late 1990’s Helen was bit by the travel bug and managed to visit over 90 countries. She kissed the Blarney Stone, had an audience with the pope, hiked around Ayers Rock in Australia, did parasailing in Mexico, smoked a cigar in Cuba, was a patient in a Nepalese hospital, went on safari in Kenya and Tanzania and so much more. But like Dorothy, according to Helen, there was no place like home.
A mass of the resurrection will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church in Suffern on Friday, October 16 at 11:00 am with burial following at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah, New Jersey.
A private life celebration will be held sometime in the future.
We are living in stressful times – a pandemic, political & racial unrest, financial hardship, food insecurity, climate change and personal hardships. In lieu of flowers or donations, reach out and do something kind to a stranger in memory of Helen.
“Life is an exhilarating roller coaster, ride the highs together and lean in on each other in the lows.”
Anthony Musyoka
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