Helen M. (Cronin) Duffy died peacefully on Monday, March 19th at her home in Gainesville, Virginia with her family by her side.

Helen was born on August 7, 1926 in Auburn, Maine to her beloved parents Daniel and Margaret (Sullivan) Cronin. She was the third of four children and the youngest of three daughters.

She graduated from Edward Little High School in Auburn in 1944. She then attended the St. Mary’s General Hospital School of Nursing in Lewiston, Maine. Upon graduation she was voted “The Ideal Nurse of the Year.” She served as the Head Nurse of the Operating Room at St. Mary’s and studied briefly at the Mayo Clinic. Throughout her life she worked as a nurse in many settings with her last position as the school nurse at Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston, Massachusetts.

While she excelled in nursing her true passion was flowers. As a child she frequently visited the greenhouse and nursery behind her home, which is where her love of flowers began. She had always hoped to become a florist but was encouraged to pursue nursing due to the need for nurses during World War II. But flowers were always a part of her life. She was always nursing a plant back to health or coaxing a flower to bloom. She was thrilled when her youngest son became a florist and delighted in his work. Whatever the mood of a day, a bouquet of flowers would always brighten her spirt.

Helen married her husband, John J. (“Jack”) Duffy on a snowy day in Maine on February 23, 1952. They were married for 50 years until his death in 2002. They lived in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Tennessee before they settled in Pembroke, Massachusetts where they lived for over 40 years. They raised four children together and instilled in each of them the strong work ethic that their parents had instilled in them. They were deeply devoted Roman Catholics and proud decedents of Irish immigrants. Helen and Jack worked hard throughout their lives and enjoyed time with their extended family and cheering on their beloved Red Sox, as well as the Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, and New England Patriots. Helen proudly wore her number 12 Tom Brady jersey cheering on the Patriots to their Super Bowl victories.

Devastated by the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on her mother and her sister Frances, Helen participated in clinical trials studying treatment and prevention of the disease in hopes of sparing her children and grandchildren a similar fate. Helen too lived courageously with Alzheimer’s disease for many years and died from complications of the disease.

Late in life Helen moved to Gainesville, Virginia to be closer to her children. While she always acclimated to wherever she was, her home state of Maine was the place she loved the most.

She is predeceased by her parents and her cherished siblings Mary Rollins, D. Frances Ehlman, and John Cronin, and her husband, Jack Duffy.

Survivors include her children: Timothy M. Duffy, Daniel T. Duffy (Cynthia), Kathleen D. Mazan (Duffy) and John J. Duffy, Jr. She was “Nana” or “Nanny” to her adored grandchildren: Marcey Clark (James), Bethany Duffy, Eryn Duffy (Matt), Mairead and Cailin Mazan, and her only grandson, Finian Mazan. She was the ecstatic great grandmother to: Madison and Paige Clark, Lola Gambino, and Lincoln Duffy-Settipani. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews in Maine, Massachusetts, and California.

Helen’s life will be celebrated in a mass of Christian burial on Monday March 26, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville, Virginia, Father Mark Cregan officiating. Burial will be private in her beloved Maine.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in Helen’s name to: St. Mary's Health System Foundation, 272 Sabattus Street, PO Box 7291, Lewiston, ME 04243-7291.

Please sign the guest book at www.bakerpostfh.com.

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