Helen was born in Chicago on May 7, 1928 and entered eternal life on September 19, 2016.

Helen was married to her high school sweetheart Gene for almost 50 years.  They believed in family, faith and friends.  Helen was especially proud of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.  She rarely missed one of their events.  We would find out at family gatherings that, "no, no you are wrong, she loved me best or I was the favorite niece or nephew."  We would all laugh and know that was Helen's way of making each one of us feel like we were the only one in the world for her.

She was a cradle Catholic and was raised on the south side of Chicago, in a very strong ethnic Irish community.  She went to St. John the Baptist grade school, was taught by an order of French nuns and even late in life would say her prayers in French.  She would remind family, when necessary, that we have to stay close to God.  Then she would tell us long forgotten stories of when we were younger and she would help clean the church.  Later in life, she sang in the Resurrection Choir at St. Ignatius and served on the Bereavement Committee: cooking and preparing meals for those who have lost loved ones.

She graduated from Visitation high school, one of the premier girls' Catholic High schools in Chicago at that time.  She was and always will be a "Vis Girl".  She funded more churches and schools than her children today ever will. Her faith and that of her family was always paramount in her life.

Helen loved to dance (winning several trophies) and socialize. In her later years, she would often have a glass of wine at the table.  "Red, of course, and is it merlot?"  She enjoyed spending time with family members, whether they were in Phoenix, Atlanta, Chicago, Michigan, California, Florida or Houston.  She travelled by air till she was almost 90 years of age.  Her only complaint was that "they made me take off my shoes and then they bent them!"  Or, "where is that cart that will take me to the end of the concourse?  You know they have them for senior citizens."

Helen is preceded in death by her husband Gene, her son Ken, her mother Loretta Mary Hinton and her father Henry Albert Hinton.  She will also be joining her brother Joe and sisters Mary and Irene in eternal life. Helen is survived by her son Mike Higgins and his wife Sandy and daughter Lauretta and her husband Warren Wolfson, daughter Carol Higgins, and daughter-in-law Trish Higgins.  She is also loved and will be missed by her grandchildren: Michael Higgins, Patrick Higgins, Meaghan Pier, Tim Higgins, Daniel Shaughnessy, Ken Michael Shaughnessy, Teague Shaughnessy, Tom Higgins, Sean Higgins, Robert Higgins, Trisha Powell, many great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Helen's name may be made to the American Heart Association.