Funeral services for 95 year old Mary E. Helen Deugaw of the Loretto Nursing Home in Syracuse, NY and formerly of Norwood, will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Andrew's Church in Norwood with Rev. Msgr. Harry Snow, pastor, presiding. Burial will be held in Calvary Cemetery in the Spring. Calling hours will be held Friday at the Buck Funeral Home in Norwood from 4 to 7 p.m. Mrs. Deugaw passed away Tuesday morning at the nursing home, where she had been a resident since November, 2009. Helen is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Donald (Janet) Dlugolenski, Syracuse, Mrs. John (Sharon) Terzian, Marcellus, Mrs. Kurt (Debra) Hayes, Oswego; two daughters-in-law, Joan Deugaw, Colton and Suzanne Deugaw, Grand Rapids, Michigan; 17 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren; four sisters, Mrs. Grace Casselman, Mrs. Theresa Burcume, Mrs. Bernice Thomas and Mrs. Kathleen Hepburn, all of Colton; her godchild, Deacon Robert Connelly, Syracuse; and her best friend, Louise Pierce, Norwood. She was predeceased by her husband in 1980; her two sons, Roger in 1995 and Edward in 2007; her brothers, Joseph, Francis, Richard, John, Edward and Harold; and her sister, Mrs. Howard Margaret Todd. Helen was born on the family farm in Colton on May 26, 1914, the oldest of 12 children of Michael and Millie Wood Gorman. In 1932, she graduated form Potsdam High School and on July 29, 1932, she married George L. Deugaw in Colton. The couple lived in Massena and then in Norwood. Helen was a 64-year member of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 68 of Norwood. At one time she was president and also vice president of the St. Lawrence County American Legion Auxiliary, a former vice-president of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas and for 50 years, chairman of the March of Dimes. She was an honorary member of St. Andrew's Altar and Rosary Society, Norwood and a member of St. Patrick-St. Paul's Altar and Rosary Society, Colton, the Colton-Pierrepont Senior Racquetteers and Dawn's Gang. For many years she was an avid archer with her husband, George. They were charter members of the Cedar Pond Archers (predecessor of the the Northwoods Archery Club). She won many awards and in 1961, at Connecticut Hills, she placed second in the Hunter Field during the State Championships. She enjoyed cooking and crocheting afghans for her family, playing games, Yankee baseball and Clarkson Hockey. The Buck Funeral Home in Norwood is serving the family of Mary Helen Deugaw.

Published in Syracuse Post Standard on March 4, 2010