Helen Finch was born Helen Theresa Harazda on June 11, 1925 in Irvington, New Jersey. She passed away peacefully on June 15, 2024 at Inglemoor Rehabilitation and Care Center in Livingston, having just turned 99 years old.
Her parents Thaddeus and Kazimiera Harazda had emigrated from Poland through Ellis Island, bringing with them artistic talents that Helen held deep in her genes.
Raised essentially by her Polish grandmother who she called Babcia (“bop-cha”), she could still recite a handful of Polish phrases (some too colorful to print). Growing up, Helen was always sketching, coloring, dancing, and singing.Active in school sports, Helen was proud to consider herself more athletic than many of the boys her age. “I was a real tomboy,” she said. To get her out of the house and also to bring back free promotional dinnerware plates, first Babcia and then Helen’s older sister, Irene, would shoo her off to the movies by herself, where she must have seen almost every Hollywood film made in the late ’30s and early ’40s.
After graduating from Kearny High School with the nickname “Rusty” (for her red hair) and voted Best Figure by her classmates, Helen worked at Bell Telephone in Newark as a proofreader for the phone book and yellow pages, a job she truly enjoyed. Even on a small wage, Helen managed to put together outfits so interesting and innovative that her co-workers would stop her at the door each morning and have her spin around like a model.
To help overcome her shyness, on a whim she entered a contest to win a free Dale Carnegie public speaking class. To her dismay, she actually won the contest and then dreaded each weekly class with knots in her stomach. One of the instructors was Robert “Bob” Finch, who politely asked Helen out on a date. Hitting it off well, they soon got married, had two children, Cynthia and Douglas, and moved to Livingston, where she lived in the same house for over 60 years.
Helen enjoyed yoga, line dancing, tai chi, art and stained-glass classes, Swing and Blues music, and every weekend gleefully scoured local yard sales for vintage collectibles. The house quickly overflowed, bursting with “treasures” that even Bob’s organized shelving could no longer contain.
Helen was especially proud of her service as vice president of the Livingston Historical Society, where she was responsible for finding and introducing fascinating speakers such as a Tuskegee Airman, and planning group trips to historic locations from Cape May to West Point. Though outwardly she complained about doing it year after year, secretly she marveled at how this one responsibility opened so many doors to new adventures and meeting intriguing people.
Alover of health food, Helen could often be found eating Greek yogurt, wheat germ, beet juice, turmeric, flax and chia seeds, flourless bread of ancient grains, and ghee. She continued to build her artsy and colorful wardrobe, often sporting bright orange, yellow, and lime green, complemented by wild scarves and one-of-a-kind sweaters. “I’m unique!” she would proudly say!
A long-time parishioner at St. Raphael Roman Catholic Church, Helen helped launder the mass liturgical altar linens, folding them precisely using a special template. She also enjoyed dressing up each Sunday, especially in past decades when many women still wore fancy hats!
Helen is remembered for being loving, creative, and energetic, while also known affectionately at times to be a bit zany and unorganized!
In her later years, Helen tuned up her sense of humor, and would occasionally drop lines worthy of a stand-up comic. Even lying in a hospital bed, her dry delivery of unexpectedly wacky sauciness would soon have the startled medical staff laughing along with her.
Helen was predeceased by her loving husband Robert Finch, and her older siblings Thaddeus “Ted” Harazda, Casimir Harazda, and Irene Roman. She is survived by her daughter Cynthia (Vincent) Vaillancourt, son Douglas (Stephanie) Finch, granddaughter Cameron Finch, and many nieces, nephews, and relations, as well as close friends that were her extended family.
Visitation was held on Wednesday, June 19, at Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home in Livingston, NJ. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 20, at St. Raphael Roman Catholic Church, 346 East Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Livingston, NJ. Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be given to Livingston Historical Society, 366 South Livingston Avenue, Livingston, NJ 07039 (The Force Home) https://livingstonnjhistoricalsociety. weebly.com/membershipdonations. html.
