Helen I. Cherry

June 26, 1925 - May 3, 2014

Helen I. (Ford) Cherry, 88, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 3, 2014 at Baystate Medical Center, with her loving family by her side. Born June 26, 1925 she was the daughter of the late Frank E. and Mary (Fogg) Ford. Helen raised and schooled in South Hadley, resided for a while in Roswell, NM, and has lived in Chicopee since 1965. She was a retired secretary for Chase and Coolidge. She worked at Hadley Printing, FW Sickles and as a lunch aide at Streiber School. Helen was a communicant of Grace Episcopal Church. She was a member of the South Hadley Women’s Club, the Air Force Sergeants Association and Chairperson of the Chicopee Comp Band Parents Ways and Means Club. Helen was predeceased in 1999 by her beloved husband, Thomas A. Cherry and in 1968 by a son, Edward Cherry. Helen is survived by two loving children, Donald T. Cherry and his wife Marilyn, of Enfield, CT and Diane M. Myslinski and her husband Joseph R., of Chicopee; a sister, Frances McCray, of Chicopee; and five cherished grandchildren, Eric Myslinski, Kimberly Myslinski and James Myslinski, all of Chicopee, and Allison Cherry and Andrew Cherry, both of Enfield, Ct. She was predeceased by three sisters, Maizie Blanchard, Gertrude Imlay and Peg Ford and two brothers, Frank Ford and John “Jack” Ford. Funeral services for Helen will be held Friday at 11AM at the Kozikowski Funeral Home, 565 Front St., Chicopee followed by burial in Fairview Cemetery, Chicopee. Calling hours are Thursday from 4-7 PM. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society, PO Box 6307, Springfield, MA 01101-6307 or American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701 or Moose Charities through Moose Lodge 1849, 244 Fuller Road, Chicopee, MA 01020.