Obituary for Helen Hanigan Kosuda
Kosuda, Helen Hanigan, of Suffern, NY, May 2, 2022. Devoted mother of Michael Kosuda of HI, Kathryn Kosuda, and her husband Sina Yeganeh, of Cambridge. Loving grandmother of Rory and Rowan Yeganeh. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend her visitation at St Cecilia Church, 18 Belvidere St., Boston, Friday, May 13th from 10 to 11 AM followed by her funeral mass at 11 AM. Services will conclude with her burial at St. Joseph Cemetery, 990 Lagrange St., Boston, MA at 1 PM. Please meet at the front gate.
Helen Hanigan Kosuda was born December 14th, 1949 in Miami, Florida. Her early childhood was spent between New York and Massachusetts and she graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Lawrence, MA.
Helen attended Emmanuel College in Boston where she was editor of the school newspaper and remained fiercely committed to journalistic independence in spite of institutional reticence. She also spent a semester abroad in Israel which fostered a deep connection to the Holy Land.
While working in Boston, Helen met and married Yasunori Kosuda. Married life brought two children, Michael and Kathryn, whom she raised in New York, New Jersey, and Toronto, Canada.
Work life saw Helen earn a Masters of Education in Special Education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in NY. She put this degree to work in school and clinical settings over a career in both public and private school regular and special education which culminated in her work as an Early Intervention Official Designee for the City of New York helping families craft therapeutic plans for the city’s youngest population.
A central thread to Helen’s life was her faith journey which in adult life included a second Masters Degree in Theology from St. Joseph’s Seminary and College at Dunwoodie and joining the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, where she made her Final Promise in September, 2019.
Other interests and hobbies included an enduring interest in gardening and floristry, which entailed time spent at the New York Botanical Gardens, Suffern Gardening Club, and volunteer work at the Garden of Hope, a therapeutic horticulture program, at Good Samaritan Hospital, Suffern, NY.
In retirement, Helen experienced a flourishing of new activities, like singing in the Hudson Valley Chorale and union service with the Organization of Staff Analysts Retirees Club (OSARC) where she assumed a leadership role just in time to lead the COVID transition to Zoom, in spite of which, she was able to find innovative ways to grow participation.
No accounting of Helen’s life would be complete without noting one of her greatest joys, being “Nana” to two wonderful grandsons Rory and Rowan, with whom she loved laughing and going on adventures to such magical places as the beach and the public library.
Helen died at 72 years old on May 2, 2022 in Cambridge, MA. She will be missed by those who knew and loved her, but she shall not be forgotten.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Helen’s memory to Mass Audubon, https://www.massaudubon.org/, or WQXR NYC’s classical music radio station, https://www.wqxr.org/.
To send an online condolence please visit www.keefefuneralhome.com
Helen Hanigan Kosuda was born December 14th, 1949 in Miami, Florida. Her early childhood was spent between New York and Massachusetts and she graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Lawrence, MA.
Helen attended Emmanuel College in Boston where she was editor of the school newspaper and remained fiercely committed to journalistic independence in spite of institutional reticence. She also spent a semester abroad in Israel which fostered a deep connection to the Holy Land.
While working in Boston, Helen met and married Yasunori Kosuda. Married life brought two children, Michael and Kathryn, whom she raised in New York, New Jersey, and Toronto, Canada.
Work life saw Helen earn a Masters of Education in Special Education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in NY. She put this degree to work in school and clinical settings over a career in both public and private school regular and special education which culminated in her work as an Early Intervention Official Designee for the City of New York helping families craft therapeutic plans for the city’s youngest population.
A central thread to Helen’s life was her faith journey which in adult life included a second Masters Degree in Theology from St. Joseph’s Seminary and College at Dunwoodie and joining the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, where she made her Final Promise in September, 2019.
Other interests and hobbies included an enduring interest in gardening and floristry, which entailed time spent at the New York Botanical Gardens, Suffern Gardening Club, and volunteer work at the Garden of Hope, a therapeutic horticulture program, at Good Samaritan Hospital, Suffern, NY.
In retirement, Helen experienced a flourishing of new activities, like singing in the Hudson Valley Chorale and union service with the Organization of Staff Analysts Retirees Club (OSARC) where she assumed a leadership role just in time to lead the COVID transition to Zoom, in spite of which, she was able to find innovative ways to grow participation.
No accounting of Helen’s life would be complete without noting one of her greatest joys, being “Nana” to two wonderful grandsons Rory and Rowan, with whom she loved laughing and going on adventures to such magical places as the beach and the public library.
Helen died at 72 years old on May 2, 2022 in Cambridge, MA. She will be missed by those who knew and loved her, but she shall not be forgotten.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Helen’s memory to Mass Audubon, https://www.massaudubon.org/, or WQXR NYC’s classical music radio station, https://www.wqxr.org/.
To send an online condolence please visit www.keefefuneralhome.com