Helen M. Desmomd

Helen Foley Desmond, formerly of Newark and Toms River, N.J. died peacefully on Sunday February 5, 2012 at the age of 99 at Scallop Shell, a skilled nursing facility in Wakefield, R.I. Mrs. Desmond, widow of Leo F. Desmond who died in 1982, leaves 3 daughters: Maureen Godzieski of York, South Carolina; Laura Thompson-Driber of Toms River, N.J.; and Sarah Ryan of South Kingstown, R.I. The daughter of Mary Roche Foley and William M. Foley, both of Limerick, Ireland, she had four brothers, all now deceased: Martin, William, Howard and Joseph, and a sister, Margaret, who is deceased. She has two surviving sisters, Mary C. Hanley of Chandler, Arizona, and Teresa Carr of Toms River, N.J. Mrs. Desmond had a granddaughter who predeceased her in 2011, Lynne Thompson Servodio of Toms River. She leaves behind eight grandchildren: Melissa Smith, Joseph Gozdieski, Michael Gozdieski, WilliamThompson, Drew Thompson, Alison Minaglia, Kathleen Haughton and Donna Moore; seventeen great grandchildren, and thirteen nieces and nephews. A graduate of Barringer High School in Newark, N.J. in 1940, she began her 38-year working career initially as a secretary for Aetna Life Insurance Co. In 1944 she received a Registered Nursing degree from St James Hospital School of Nursing where she remained as a staff nurse until 1947. From 1947 to 1978, she worked as a Public Health Nurse for the City of Newark’s Dept. of Public Health. She received a Bachelors in Nursing from Seton Hall University in 1965, and later advanced to Public Health Nurse Supervisor for all of the City of Newark’s Parochial Schools. In retirement, Mrs. Desmond relocated to Holiday City in Toms River where she continued her dedicated service to others. She volunteered as a substitute nurse for the Toms River schools, for Deborah Hospital, the Red Cross, and served as president of the singles club at Holiday City for several years. At age 80, she became a certified Emergency Medical Technician until the age of 85. For 29 years she was a Parishioner at St. Maximillian Kolbe R.C. Church and served as a Eucharistic Minister there until she moved to The Haven, an assisted living facility in Toms River, N. J. She moved to Rhode Island in September 2011. There will be a private burial. Family and friends will be invited to attend the celebration of her life at a Memorial Mass at St. Maximillian Kolbe R. C. Church in Toms River, N. J. (date to be announced).