Helen (Warner) Ellsworth was born in Somerville in January 1919, the youngest child of William and Mary (Stack) Warner. They lived on Dickinson Street, just outside Inman Square, where Helen was surrounded by a large and loving family, including her parents, her sisters Mary, Alice, Claire and Ruth, her beloved and very protective brother Philip, and several uncles and aunts.
Helen’s father, a Somerville policeman, was killed when Helen was just two years old. His death left her with a deep sense of loss, and of being somehow different from other children. Thanks to her strong family and her Catholic faith, Helen had a happy childhood despite that loss. She developed into a smart, beautiful, charming and very loyal young woman, with a naturally sunny personality and a love for performing that she realized in many school pageants and plays. She made many friends during her time at St. Joseph’s High School, some of whom remained close all her life.
Helen graduated from St. Joseph’s in 1937. She went to work, and eventually was employed at Sanborn Company, a medical equipment maker in suburban Boston. She was secretary to the company president, and was often asked to model for company advertisements. While there, she met the love of her life, a young engineer named Bill Ellsworth. They married in 1942, and moved to Belmont.
In 1950, she and Bill bought a house way out west in Framingham. For a self-described “city girl” that was about as far from civilization as she could imagine. She overcame her misgivings and made this perhaps her happiest time. Helen made many lifelong friends among her neighbors on Spruce Street. She and Bill were active in The Villagers, a local social club, and enjoyed organizing and hosting parties and other events. In 1952, after losing two babies in previous years, Helen and Bill welcomed their first child, Mark. Their second child, Lawrence, followed in 1957.
Framingham was lovely and familiar, but the house was too small for a growing family, so Helen and Bill bought a house in Sherborn. If Framingham was for Helen the far edge of civilization, Sherborn was the deep dark woods, where she was sure bears and wolves were living. However, her buoyant spirit shone through again. She. She made more deep and long-lasting friendships, and again she was active in school, social and charitable activities.
Life went on happily for the family until one July night in 1979 when Bill suddenly died. Helen’s shock and despair nearly overwhelmed her. With time and the deep love of her friends and family, that wound began to heal, although she mourned Bill for the rest of her life. In 1982 she moved to an apartment in Medfield, next door to her sisters Claire and Ruth, where they recreated in a small way their early days. During the next dozen years she became grandmother to Andrew, Jonathan, Gregory, Joshua and Christopher Ellsworth. She loved this role, and excelled in it.
In 1999, after the deaths of her sisters and brother, Helen moved again, to Needham. Although in her 80s, she continued to make friends in her new neighborhood. Her health declined, and she moved to Milford in 2009, then in 2010 to her final home at St. Patrick’s Manor in Framingham. Even there, nearly to her last day, she would greet the sisters, staff and visitors with genuine warmth and good humor. She passed away on Valentine’s Day 2015, at age 96, still beloved by her friends and family.
She is survived by her sons, Lawrence Ellsworth and his wife Carol of Medway and Mark Ellsworth and his wife Diane of California.
She was the sister of the late Mary Slye, Alice (Sr. Felicitas), Gertrude, Claire, Ruth, and Philip Warner.
She is also the proud grandmother of Gregory, Christopher, Andrew, Jonathan, and Joshua.
Helen dearly loved her family, friends, and home, and was always ready to laugh and be joyful.
Her funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday, February 21, in St. Joseph Church, Medway at 10:00a.m.
Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Holliston.
Visitation will be on Saturday from 9:00- 9:45 a.m. in the Ginley Crowley Funeral Home, 3 Barber Street, Medway.
In lieu of flowers expressions of sympathy may be made in her memory to the Salvation Army, PO BOX 269, Alexandria, VA. 22314.