Obituary: Helen E. Caruso, 96, of Danbury

Helen E. Caruso, 96, of Danbury, CT, passed away peacefully at Filosa Care Center in Danbury on Saturday, June 10, 2017. She was the wife of the late Joseph F. Caruso.

Helen was born in Bronx, NY to the late Martin and Anna Fisher. She was the second of 9 children born to them. Her family was shaped by the Great Depression, and the lessons learned by having to help raise her younger siblings and keep the family afloat were always part of her life.

She was dedicated to her own three children, making the most of the one-bedroom apartment the family lived in on Avenue St. John in the Bronx. She ran the household with thrift, filling the role of accountant, master seamstress, and cook. On road trips to Long Island and Westchester, she was the keeper of the maps and directions.

After the death of her husband Joseph in 1971, Helen became the quiet matriarch of the Caruso family, and a model of independence and self-reliance. Forced to begin a career at the age of 50, she landed a job with the MetLife insurance company where she worked into her 70s.

Although she never learned to drive, she traveled with many tour groups, and enjoyed visiting her siblings around the country. She never turned down the chance to visit Walt Disney World. After her retirement, she moved to Danbury to be closer to her three children and their families.

A voracious reader, crossword-puzzler, and aficionado of classic movies, she was never the loudest person in the room, but certainly the smartest, and definitely the most well-read. Her opinion on any matter- personal, professional, or political was communicated clearly through the look in her eyes and the tone of her "hmm" or "tsk". This was especially true when any other member of the family attempted to reproduce her storied lasagna recipe. She held the secret until after she turned 90.

Helen remembered everything, including every one of her children's, grandchildren's, and great-grandchildren's birthdays, and never failed to send a card. She was invited, and attended, birthday parties, weddings, and other gatherings for every cousin, in-law, and friend, because of her kind and thoughtful nature. She loved her family unconditionally, which was probably a good thing for most of us. She was especially close with her granddaughter Jennifer, who passed away in 2007.

She was the constant and the calm throughout all of the highs, lows, and tumult of a large family, and no matter what, was always there for us with a smile, and a cup of tea and a piece of cake on her old teabag-stained Formica table.

Helen is survived by her children: Joseph and his wife Lorraine, Richard, and Elaine and her husband Vincent; her grandchildren Lisa, Carrie Ann, Richard, Jeanine, Joseph, James, Michael, and Roseanne; and her great-grandchildren Gary, Savannah, Benjamin, Richard, Dakota, Michael, Samuel, Lilliana, Elijah, Gianna, Sebastian, Joseph, Evelyn, and Dominick.A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30am on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at St. Edward the Confessor Church in New Fairfield, CT.

Burial will follow at St. Raymond Cemetery, Bronx, NY. Friends will be received from 4:00-8:00pm on Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at the Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut. Contributions in Helen's memory may be made to the Salvation Army, her favorite charity that helped her family during the Great Depression.

Obituary and photo courtesy of the Green Funeral Home.