Burial Date
Obituaries » HELEN L. DONAHUE
DONAHUE, HELEN LUCILLE, 86, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., passed away peacefully January 2. She was born April 2, 1927, in Websterville, the youngest of six children to Peter and Lula (Nye) O’Connor. Helen graduated from Spaulding High School and attended Burlington Business College. She married Norbert J. Donahue on May 3, 1947, at St. Sylvester’s Church in Graniteville, and moved from Vermont to Plattsburgh, N.Y., in 1952. Helen’s life revolved around her family. She was a devoted wife and loving mother, and she took joyful interest in the lives and activities of her children and grandchildren. Helen worked part time for several years in the office at St. Mary’s of the Lake Parish and in later years as an activities aide at Sacred Heart Nursing Home. Helen’s pastimes in her earlier life included sewing, knitting and reading, singing in the church choir, and tending her summer flowers. She also volunteered her time teaching little children religious education classes at St. Mary’s of the Lake Church. Helen loved her house on Cumberland Head that she and Norby built in 1955. There they raised their six children and welcomed friends and family. Grandma relished in the simple pleasures of playing the piano with a child, reading a storybook, watching a funny movie, and making a big bowl of stove-popped popcorn with lots of butter to share (she liked to eat hers soaked in a glass of milk). Anyone that ever ate one of her meals can attest that she was an excellent cook and fantastic baker. She was predeceased by her husband, Norbert “Norby” Donahue; her parents, Peter and Lula O’Connor; two sisters, Edna Liese and Mildred Cozzi; three brothers, Lawrence, Clifford, and B. Wendell O’Connor; and a son-in-law, Gordon Hazel. Helen is survived by her six children, Kathleen Hazel, Miles and Debra Donahue, Mark and Jane Donahue, Joan and Vincent Adorno, Martin and Tina Donahue, and Susan and Mark Cloutier; 18 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
