Helen V (Carew) Morris

Helen Virginia Carew was born on July 27, 1917 at Palmer Hospital in Palmer, MA.  She was the second (first surviving) child of Sara Broadfoot Carew and Ralph Noble Carew of Monson, MA. She and her seven siblings survived the polio epidemic of 1930, but their Father did not.  Following graduation from Monson High School, she attended Massachusetts State College in Amherst.

On September 3, 1937 she married Robert H. Morris, also of Monson, who had graduated from Brown University and taught at Monson High School and Monson Academy.  They resided in Amherst while Helen completed her degree at Massachusetts State College (1939), then moved to Tamworth, NH and later to Sutton, MA

In 1938, Helen and Bob purchased land in West Gouldsboro, ME, where they built a summer camp which serves as a family gathering place up to the present day.  Their daughter, Catherine Jean, was born in Ellsworth, ME in 1942, and their son, Richard Alan, was born in Worcester, MA in 1944.  The family settled in East Longmeadow, MA in 1949.  There, Helen was an active member of the community as a member of the First Congregational Church, Sunday school teacher, public school substitute teacher, Brownie, Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader, volunteer in the public library, and Children’s Librarian.

Helen and Bob relocated to North Amherst, MA in 1966.  There, Helen worked in the Jones Library, and also volunteered as a research assistant at Old Deerfield Village.
In 1975 they purchased a year-round oceanfront home in Prospect Harbor, ME, where they resided for twenty-one years. Again, Helen was a library volunteer, active in the Prospect Harbor Church, and eventually Curator of the Gouldsboro Historical Society.
In retirement, Helen and Bob enjoyed several trips to Europe, the British Isles, Canada  and around the USA and its national parks.

When Bob died in 1996, Helen moved to Meadowbrook Acres in Brimfield, MA.  She volunteered at the Hitchcock Academy, the Book Loft in Palmer, and was active in the Brimfield United Church of Christ.  In March of this year, Helen moved to Orchard Valley assisted living community in Wilbraham, where she made many new friends among residents and staff.  Helen fell on September 10th, while making a transfer from wheelchair to recliner, a move she made many times daily.  Although family was present, they were unable to prevent the mishap.  Helen died at Orchard Valley on September 15th.  She was dearly beloved, and is deeply missed.

Helen was predeceased by her parents and infant brother, Allen; her husband, Robert H. Morris, on March 18, 1996; her sisters and brothers-in-law, Wayne B. and Jessie C. Gates, Rachel and Marshall Watrous, Sara Jean and Robert A. Ouellette, William Fenton, sister-in-law Shirley Makepeace Carew,  Mary and William Emerson and Chester and Hazel Morris Keith;  her treasured son, Richard Alan Morris on July 2, 2016, and her nieces Virginia Keith and Janice Ouellette Cacciopuoti.

She is survived by her daughter, Catherine Morris Lloyd, of Williston, Vermont; daughter-in-law Sandra Pauly Morris, of Brimfield, MA and West Gouldsboro, ME; siblings Ralph and Millie Carew, David Carew, and Florence Fenton.  Also,
grandchildren Richard A. Morris and Elizabeth, his children Benjamin and Anya, and her daughter Taylor Fieux; Laura Morris Fowler and Daniel, their children Daniel, Katherine, and Michael; Melissa Morris Young and Jason, their children Abigail, Hannah and Chloe; Morgan E. Lloyd and Nathan Suter, their children Amani Suter and Asa Lloyd; Galen Lloyd Perkins and Stephen, their children Joshua and Celia; Alexander Lloyd and Rachel; former son-in-law Brian F. Lloyd; former granddaughter-in-law Anne Mariani Morris;  and many nieces and nephews and their spouses and children.

Funeral arrangements are under the care of Lombard Funeral Home in Monson, MA.   Committal will be at 10 am Saturday, September 29, at Moulton Hill Cemetery in Monson, followed by a memorial service at 11 am at Brimfield United Church of Christ, Brimfield, MA, and a luncheon at the Church for those attending.

At Helen’ suggestion, those wishing to make memorial contributions could consider the Congregational Church of Brimfield or the Shriner’s Hospital of Springfield.