COUSINS, Helen D., 93, Essex, VT, Sept. 21, 2016. Services will be held on Thurs., Oct. 6 at 9 a.m. at the St. Catherine of Siena Church in Shelburne, VT.
Helen Davis Cousins, age 93, died on September 21, 2016, surrounded by love at Mansfield Place, a caring assisted living and memory care community in Essex, VT. She was born in Caribou, to Atwood and Grace (Bowles) Davis, and had one younger brother, Otis.
In 1941, Helen married her high school sweetheart, Donald E. Cousins, in Caribou. They started their life together in Portland, where Don was stationed in the Army, moving back to Caribou/Presque Isle in 1945 where Don began a career in banking. That career eventually took the family to Sterling/Rock Falls, IL, where Don served as president of Central National Bank.
The Cousins were very active in the community until Don’s retirement in 1985 and a move to warmer weather in Charlotte Harbor, FL.
Helen loved books and served as a board member and president of the Rock Falls and Sterling Library Boards and secretary of the Northern Illinois Library System Board. In Charlotte Harbor, she organized a lending library at Rolls Landing. She was an expert seamstress and sewing instructor. After moving to Vermont in 2012, she joined the Shelburne Bay Sewing Club, making and selling handcrafted items in support of HANDS-VT. Helen was Matron and a life member of Lunar Chapter, Order of Eastern Star in Presque Isle.
Above all else, she was as a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in- law, and daughter who cared for her own mother, setting an example for us to follow.
Surviving family members include Dianne (Larry) Breed of Wilmington, NC; Jeff (Sue) Cousins of Surprise, AZ; Barry (Ann) Cousins of Williston, VT; four granddaughters: Jodi (Rick) Phillips of Myrtle Beach, SC, Kelly (Dan) Morris of Yorktown, VA, Jamie (Dan) Hirota of Honolulu, HI, and Laurie (Roger) Strausberger of Plainfield, IL; six great-grandchildren; and two great-great- grandchildren. Predeceasing were her brother, Otis Davis; husband, Don; and grandson, Drew Cousins.
A memorial mass will be offered for Helen on Thursday October 6 at 9 a.m., at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Shelburne, VT. Internment will be in Caribou, ME.
The Cousins family extends our gratitude to the Residence at Shelburne Bay staff and to the Memory Care Community and staff at Mansfield Place. We are grateful to the VNA Hospice team and to Helen’s primary care physician, Dr. Hannah Rabin, and the team at Richmond Family Medicine. In lieu of flowers, we invite you to celebrate Helen’s life with an act of kindness.
