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Tuesday, May 6, 2025
4:00 - 7:00 pm (Eastern time)
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Starts at 9:00 am (Eastern time)
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
10:00 - 11:00 am (Eastern time)
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Helen Marie Ryan, a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children, after a long illness, on Thursday, May 1, 2025. She was 79 years old.
Helen was born in Boston on September 19, 1945, and was the daughter of the late John and Alice (Sweeney) McCue. She was raised in Neponset, a devout parishioner of Saint Ann’s, and graduated from Jeremiah E. Burke High School in 1963.
After graduation, she started her first job as a secretary at the Boston Gas Company in downtown Boston. In the same year, Helen met the love of her life, William “Bill” M. Ryan, whom she married on July 23, 1966.
Helen was a homemaker and raised her family with love and devotion. Helen was the beloved wife of the late William “Bill” M. Ryan Sr., who died in 2004. Together, they shared four children. Devoted mother of Robin M. Thomas and her husband William of Bridgewater, Lisa A. Perrin and her husband Scott of Chelmsford, Shannen J. Ryan of Somerset, and William M. Ryan Jr. of Rockland. Helen was the loving grandmother of Kyle F. Perrin and his fiancée, Courtney Rubio of Florida, Ryan W. Thomas of Bridgewater, Gabrielle L. Perrin of Brighton, Hayley E. Perrin of Chelmsford, Alyson Thomas of Bridgewater, Tallie Foster of Iowa, and great-grandmother of Cora M. Perrin of Florida. She was the dear sister of Deborah and her late husband Joseph Rioux of Halifax, the late Maureen and her late husband Anastasia “Pete” Panarites of California, and her brother, the late John “Jackie” McCue and his surviving wife Carolyn of Louisiana. Many loving nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends also survive Helen.
Helen built a life and her family, together with her beloved husband Bill, and settled in Rockland. Helen truly knew that giving was more blessed than receiving, and her generosity knew no bounds. Her radiant smile lit up any room she entered. She embodied the best qualities: unconditional love, strength of spirit, fierce loyalty, determination, and unending generosity that could be seen in her care for her mother, husband, children, grandchildren, entire family, and countless others. She enjoyed time with family and her close friends above all else. Going to the beach, volunteering in the community and the church, gardening, playing cards, dancing, reading, hosting or attending family cook-outs, and watching her children and then her grandchildren play sports or act in plays or enjoy whatever it was they were doing were some of her favorite things but spending time together at ‘the vacation house’ in Bridgton, Maine was especially important to her. Having a place to enjoy quality extended family time so everyone could be together in adulthood with families of their own and ‘play’ and partake in some of her favorite outdoor pastimes: boating, skiing, snowmobiling, antiquing, and birdwatching.
Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to greet the family during the visiting hours on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, from 4-7 PM in the McDonald Keohane Funeral Home SOUTH WEYMOUTH at 809 Main Street (Rte. 18 opp. So. Shore Hospital).
A Celebration of Life Service will be held in the funeral home at 9 AM on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, prior to the Funeral Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church, Weymouth at 10 AM.
Services will conclude with interment in Pine Hill Cemetery, Quincy.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
4:00 - 7:00 pm (Eastern time)
McDonald Keohane Funeral Home - South
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Starts at 9:00 am (Eastern time)
McDonald Keohane Funeral Home - South
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
10:00 - 11:00 am (Eastern time)
St. Francis Xavier Church
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