Helen L. Richardson was born on October 15,1924. “Delivered by my grandmother!”, she always added proudly. She was one of five children with two older brothers and two younger. Her early years were spent in Belmont, Massachusetts before the family moved to neighboring Cambridge. She had memories of dedicated Cambridge High teachers who spent extra hours with her to ensure her graduation since the Belmont school curriculum had been less rigorous. Helen was a good student and caught up enough to be awarded early release from school in order to work at Widener Library. She graduated from Cambridge High and Latin in 1942 and went to work as a secretary at MIT and eventually the Dewey and Almy Chemical Company in Cambridge. 

 

On February 2nd 1946 Helen married DeWitt “Tommy” Thompson and on December 5th she gave birth to her first child David. Her daughter Ann was born in 1949, the same year that the marriage ended in divorce. Helen and the children moved to Newton Lower Falls with her parents William and Mildred Richardson.  In 1950 Helen returned to work as a secretary at the Ucinite Co in Newton,MA that made electrical circuits. Tragedy struck when her son David was diagnosed at age seven with a brain tumour and died merely a few weeks later. 

 

Eventually Helen was able to return to work and remained at Ucinite until 1961 when she accepted a job with the United Church of Christ in Boston. The UCC position was not a good fit and in 1962 she moved to the Ludlow Corporation in Needham, Massachusetts. There she worked for one of her favorite bosses, Kenneth Cornish and became close to his wife Nancy and daughter Wendy as well. His retirement coincided with an opening at Andover Newton Theological School and this was where she spent the remainder of her working life until retirement. It was at Andover Newton as administrative assistant to Dean George Peck that she finally achieved work/life balance through many wonderful friendships developed with her co-workers and students. 

 

The academic environment at Andover Newton inspired and encouraged Helen to undertake an Associates Degree through the Harvard Extension School program and her degree was awarded  in 1985. She was also able to travel internationally during her years at Andover Newton. She represented the school at a Conference held in Oxford, England in 1981 and spent time with her daughter who was living in Scotland at the time. She went to Bermuda as a guest of her brother David and sister in law, Carol who had a timeshare there and visited her former boss Ken Cornish and his wife Nancy in England. Before and after the birth of her first grandson, Nicholas, she made several trips to visit Ann’s family who lived in Norway from 1987-1990. When the family returned to Maine in 1990 her second grandchild, Mattias, was born. Helen was a wonderful grandmother to these two boys and a much loved aunt to her many nieces and nephews.

 

Helen retired from Andover Newton in 1989. She worked part time post retirement for the Boston Theological Institute before moving to Maine in 1993 to be close to Ann and her family. She quickly became involved in a newcomer’s group sponsored by the Kennebunk Senior Center and a book club at the Graves Library in Kennebunkport where she took a leadership role in building participation. She was a member of a local swimming group and remained in touch with the members for many years. In her late 80’s, Helen moved to the Park Street School Apartments in Kennebunk and enjoyed the new community she met there. She and Ann participated in the town-supported community garden with other residents. By 2020 she could no longer live independently and moved to Ann’s home in Biddeford. Helen suffered a mild stroke in the spring of 2021 but was able to receive care from a wonderful team from Hospice of Southern Maine. We will always be grateful for their kind, loving,compassionate care. She died peacefully on April 22, 2021 which was also Earth Day. One of her greatest joys in her final years was a window bird feeder.

 

Helen will be remembered for her kindness, optimism and ability to forgive. She enjoyed people and supporting them in their life choices. The sad moments in her life could never overshadow her positive view of the world and the people in it who gave her so much joy.

 

Helen is survived by her daughter Ann Thompson of Biddeford and her grandchildren Nicholas and Mattias Kaufmann.