Helen M Lopez

If Jose Lopez, our father, who passed away in December 2009, was the Mayor of the Block, our mother, Helen Lopez, who passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, was the Family Caretaker. She was a devoted wife and mother to Vincent and Peter, who survived her passing. She leaves one Grandchild, Elisa. Ofelia and Nancy are the spouses of her two sons. Helen was Born in Newark, NJ, in 1928. Our mother was raised primarily in New York City during the Depression, which shaped her modesty, a trait she carried throughout her life. She was never one to be in the family picture; she was the one who took the photo. She also leaves a younger sister, Lilian, whom she remains close to the end; they speak to each other on the phone each week. They were in an orphanage for a brief period in their young lives. They shared a unique understanding forged in a place and time that only they knew. Helen was a telephone operator in New York City when phone numbers had names and numbers. After the war, she met Jose in NYC, a cook in the Army who had arrived from Puerto Rico. One of their first dates was a baseball game at Ebbits Field in Brooklyn to see the Dodgers. They married, had two baby boomers, and lost one son at birth—a blue baby. After a few years, she returned to work to help support the family and give her two sons an opportunity to have a private education in the Catholic School system. She worked for Blue Cross & Blue Shield until she took early retirement to help care for her granddaughter, named after her mother. Helen always prioritizes her family, and when dogs enter her life, she treated them like her children. She survived and cared for Bear (Akita) and Rocky (Pug) as four-legged kids. Helen was there for everyone in her family. She will be missed for her warm breakfast during the winter months before going to school, the hamburgers on Saturday afternoons (which were a treat), and, on Saturday nights, she would open up one (1) can of soda for my brother and me, and the three of us would drink out of small juice glasses as we watched Mission Impossible while our dad was at the Restaurant working. Whether it was a 2-bedroom apartment in the Harlem projects or a home in New Jersey, she took care of her home impeccably. Thank you for taking care of us all those years.

Helen M Lopez

April 6, 1928 - September 17, 2024