Helen L. Bergin

Waltham – Mrs. Helen L. (Ryan) Bergin, of Waltham, died Saturday, April 30, 2011 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. She was 95.

Helen was born in Watertown on January 13, 1916, a daughter of the late Michael and Margaret (Donahue) Ryan. She had been a resident of Waltham since childhood. Helen graduated from Rosary Academy in Watertown and later graduated from Burdette College in Boston. She had been a member of Saint Mary’s Mothers Club and was long active with GWArc in Waltham.

The wife of the late Francis T. Bergin, she leaves her children Maureen Terry and her husband, William, of Barrington, Illinois, Dr. Francis T. Bergin, Jr. and his wife, Carol, of Bethesda, Maryland, Kathleen Santacroce of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Helen Kranz and her husband, Dwight, of Hampton, New Hampshire, Joan Bergin of Waltham, Virginia Bergin of Arlington, Eleanor Ericson and her husband, Douglas, of Pepperell, Regina Jackson and her husband, John ‘Mike’, of Chelmsford and Susan Connaughton and her husband, Leonard, of Winchester; her brother, Paul Ryan of Waltham; 24 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Helen was also the mother of the late Alice Bergin, the sister of the late William and Robert Ryan, mother-in-law of the late David Santacroce and great-grandmother of the late Robert Terry, Jr.

Family and friends will honor and remember Helen’s life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Wednesday, May 4th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Mary’s Church, 133 School Street, Waltham where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to the Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens, Inc., (GWArc), 56 Chestnut Street, Waltham, MA 02453.