Helen F. Chisholm

Helen F. (Tedeschi) Chisholm of Wakefield passed away on December 25th at the age of 95 after a brief period of failing health. Born on June 17, 1930, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Helen was the oldest of six children of Armand and Eileen (Kennedy) Tedeschi. She was the widow of James E. Chisholm, Sr. with whom she shared 60 years of marriage until his passing in 2012.

Helen and Jim moved from Bellingham, MA to Wakefield in 1958 after Jim took a job at the newly opened American Mutual Life Insurance Company. They immediately embraced – and were embraced by – their new hometown where they made many, many friends with whom they remained close throughout the next six decades.

Shortly after moving to Wakefield, Helen took a part-time job at Minahan Pharmacy and later worked at the Golden Door before joining American Mutual as a telephone operator, the same job she held after her graduation from high school. After retiring in 2002, she and Jim moved to Mashpee where she took up golfing. She was active in the Quashnet Valley Country Club and served the town as a poll worker during elections. She moved back to Wakefield to be close to her children after Jim died.

A kind and spirited woman, Helen lived life to the fullest, always telling everyone to “live for the moment.” She and her partner-in-crime and best friend, Janet Miranda, coordinated mystery rides in the 1960s for dozens of friends who boarded a yellow school bus in front of their two-family house on Chestnut Street for unknown destinations. She was the first one on the dance floor – the faster the music the better, and loved all types of music, from Vaughn Monroe to the B-52s. Helen was a “fashionista” who matched her shoes, glasses, purse - and sometimes nail polish - with her clothes which were always bright and colorful.

Although she loved a nice glass of chardonnay, trips to Foxwoods with the Senior Center, bingo and movies at the Senior Center, she loved her family with all her heart and was a woman of great and deep faith.

She was a loving and devoted mother to Ann Hadley and her fiancé John Smolinsky of Georgetown, Jayne D’Onofrio and her husband David of Wakefield, and Jim Chisholm and his wife Teri of Boston. She was the loving Nana Helen to her seven grandchildren: Laura Gecoya of Middleton, Lea Hadley and her fiancé Michael Rassiccia of Wakefield, David D’Onofrio and his wife Stacey of Lynnfield, Daniel D’Onofrio and his wife Tara of Winthrop, Erika D’Onofrio and her partner Josh Oates of Wakefield, Kelsey Leach and her husband Zach of Lynnfield, and Kaitlyn Acciari and her husband Noel of Pittsburgh; and 13 great grandchildren: Dominick, Daniel, Alexandra, Anthony, Margaret, Charlotte, Camden, Freddie, Greyson, Sutton, Kinsley, Quinton, and Brayden.

She is also survived by her brother William Tedeschi and his wife Laurie of Blackstone, MA, and her sisters-in-law Judith Tedeschi and Melinda Tedeschi, both of Florida. She was preceded in death by her husband James E. Chisholm, Sr., her sisters Mary Meunier and Estelle Richardson, and her brothers Armand Tedeschi, Jr., and Robert Tedeschi. She is survived by many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Friday, January 2nd from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Joseph Church, 173 Albion St., Wakefield on Saturday, January 3rd at 10 a.m. Interment will be private at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in memory of Helen to the James E. and Helen F. Chisholm Fund, c/o The Scholarship Foundation of Wakefield, 467 Main Street, P.O. Box 321, Wakefield, MA 01880.