Obituary of Helen C. Donnelly

Helen C. Donnelly, 83, passed away at home on Thursday, December 7, 2017. Born in Woodbridge, NJ to Peter and Josephine Gatso, Helen was one of 10 children. Helen met her husband John at Hadley Airport, where they both were pilots. She was a member of the Silver Wings Flying Club, flying piper cub and Cessna aircraft and John's Fairchild PT19 open cockpit airplane. They married in 1958 and settled in South Plainfield. Helen worked at Merck in Rahway, Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield, Technicon and Kyoto Corporation in South Plainfield, before retiring. Helen was a den mother for the cub scouts, and served on the Women's Auxiliary for the South Plainfield Junior Baseball Club. In her spare time she enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, feeding the menagerie of animals that congregated in her backyard and going to watch her grandchildren play sports. Predeceased by three siblings; Josephine Ferraro , Peter and Andrew Gaston, Helen is survived by her beloved husband John Donnelly of 59 years, her children; Dawn Hutchison (Ronald) of South Plainfield, John Donnelly (Eva) of NC and Peter Donnelly (Nina) of VA., grandchildren; Christen, John, Joshua, Jacob, Ryan, Sean, Lauren, Gustavo, Lydia (Cali) and Tabitha (Jason); great grandchildren Jaelyn, Jacob, Christian, Serenity and Easton. Also surviving is her sister Theresa Almasi of Woodbridge, and many nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, December 11, 2017 beginning at 9:15am in the McCriskin - Gustafson Home For Funerals 2425 Plainfield Ave. South Plainfield, NJ 07080 followed by a 10am funeral mass at Sacred Heart RC Church , South Plainfield. Interment will follow at Holy Redeemer Cemetery, South Plainfield. Visitation will be held on Sunday, December 10, 2017 from 2-5pm in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Plainfield Area Humane Society, 75 Rock Avenue, Plainfield, NJ 07063 in Helen's name.