Helen B. Callahan

Helen Blaney Callahan, of Marblehead, passed away at her home on Friday afternoon, May 18th, 2012, the day before her 92nd birthday. Born in Marblehead, she was the daughter of the late Leonard and Gertrude Blaney.

Helen was a graduate of Marblehead High School (1939), attended Wilfred Hair Dressing Academy and a lifelong Marbleheader. She raised a family and living to see almost all of her children and grandchildren settle in the area and start families of their own.

Helen started and operated a hair salon out of her home for 52 years, only retiring when her customers, as she said, "got too old to climb the hill." Helen was married for sixty-nine years to Thomas R. Callahan, and together with friends and family, they traveled the world, visiting Ireland, the islands, and almost every state in the country. But her favorite pastime was to spend weekends with the family at her summer home on Bunganut Pond in Lyman, Maine, watching her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren splash in the water, talk around the fire, and laugh around the dinner table.

In addition to her husband, Helen is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Connie Callahan of Swampscott, her daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Wayne Attridge of Marblehead, six grandsons, Shawn, Brendan, and Kyle Callahan, and Michael, Patrick, and Darby Attridge along with their spouses, three great-grandchildren, and one more great-grandchild on the way. She was deeply loved, and she will be deeply missed.

A graveside service will be held in Waterside Cemetery, 294 West Shore Drive, Marblehead on Thursday, May 24 at 11AM. Relatives and friends respectfully invited. Contributions can be made in her memory to Hospice of the North Shore, 75 Sylvan St, Suite B102, Danvers, MA 01923. Arrangements by the Eustis and Cornell Funeral Home, Marblehead.