Helen Dempsey

She was quick friend to anyone lucky enough to cross her path: from princes and a President, to plumbers and painters. Everyone met the same character, everyone was loved (and fed), and everyone was held to the same high standard. She would give you thousands of dollars in a minute if you needed it, but when you tried to say thank you she would tell you to shut up and remind you that you owed her a quarter. She couldn’t tell you how to bake an apple pie but you could sit next to her, watch her do it on instinct and be expected to keep up. She wouldn’t know how to make one batch of pierogis but knew exactly what she needed to make enough to fill the freezer of each kid and grandkid. She would come to your house with arms full of presents, treats and love and before she left she would walk around and take all the bottles to get her nickels.

Though she was never quite the same without her Jimmy, she reinvented herself as ‘The General’ of the walking club, and as the queen of the second floor: keeping an eye on all her friends and all the comings and goings. She loved fresh air and the sun on her face, making pancakes for a house full of grandkids (get your butter ready), and exploring the world with her Jimmy. She loved garage sales: her excuse to poke just a little into the lives of everyone else and invite them into hers in turn. She loved Yonkers, her church, her family and her adopted Sunrise family. ‘I think I’m very lucky’ she said so many times.

She always said she would have loved to have been a teacher. That’s exactly what she was: through her spirit and generosity she taught kindness and brought laughter, through her friendships and the community she created she modelled love and from the example she set, whether she was working all hours at the club or even these last few weeks, practicing climbing the stairs so she could make it up to the house she showed the value of hard honest work.

Never one to say goodbye instead: So what else is new, Grandma? Make sure you grab an apple or two for the ride.

Helen will be forever loved and missed by her sisters: Sophie and Claudia; her children, Dennis and Kenneth; their wives Trixie and Mary Anne, and her grandchildren Erik, Arianne, Logan, Kerri and Kyle.

Visiting hours will be Tuesday, December 13th from 3 until 8 at Whalen and Ball. Services will be held on Wednesday, December 14th at 10 am at Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Yonkers. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Holy Trinity Orthodox Church.