Helen Margaret Durkin

Helen M. Durkin, 94, died peacefully on February 22, of pneumonia. She was the daughter of the late Edmund J. Durkin, Sr. and Mary Walsh Durkin, and was preceded in death by her siblings, Edmund, Thomas, and Catherine Durkin. She is survived by her cherished nieces and nephews – Ned, Rosemary, John, David and Therese Durkin, Elizabeth Slusarczyk, and Maggie Bellamy; and 14 grandnieces and grandnephews. Her warm smile, generosity and graciousness will be long remembered by her family and friends.

Her family greatly appreciates the care and concern shown to Helen by Barbara Thimmes and the nursing staff at Pacifica Senior Living over the past few years.

Helen was a 1938 graduate of Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA, and earned her Master’s degree from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. She taught French at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, IN and in junior high in Lakewood, OH until her retirement to Wilmington in 1980. After she moved to Wilmington, Helen was an active member of St. Mark’s Catholic Church, and taught the Faith Formation classes for children for many years.

Visitation will take place on Friday, February 25, 2011 from 6 to 8 PM at Coble Ward-Smith, Oleander Chapel. A funeral service will be on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 1:00 PM at St. Mark’s Catholic Church. Interment will be private, at Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to the Catherine and Helen Durkin Scholarship Fund at Mercyhurst College, Attn David Livingston, 501 East 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546.