Helen J. Elwyn

She was born on Sept. 24, 1926 in Hillsdale, N.J., a daughter of John and Hanna Wister.

Helen married Charles Elwyn in 1943 and they raised three children in Old Tappan, N.J. Helen was a tax accountant for more than 60 years – for a CPA in New Jersey and for William Sweeney, CPA from 1971 to 2001 in Saranac Lake.

Helen and Charlie purchased an inn in Lake Clear in 1967 and ran Charlie’s Inn for 18 years. When they became legally separated in 1985, Charlie continued to run the Inn and Campsite and Helen continued to handle the accounting for the business and worked for William Sweeney and then for Edenfield and Snow.

In 1998, Charlie and Helen sold the inn, and in 1999 they sold the campsite. Helen moved from Saranac Lake in 2008 and spent time between her daughters Joyce in Santa Fe, N.M., and Tricia in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Helen returned to Saranac Lake every year to visit Charlie and to see her many friends in the area. Helen and Charlie remained friends for life and Helen passed away two weeks after Charlie died.

Helen worked hard all her life and had many talents. She sewed clothes and coats for her children through their growing-up years. She made them all Easter outfits and Halloween costumes. She crocheted and knitted blankets and afghans for everyone in the family and made many gifts in embroidery, needlepoint and cross-stitch.

She loved to travel with her family and was able to see places like Norway, Hawaii, London, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Mexico, all with her family by her side. She enjoyed playing cards with family and friends and gambling, especially at Buffalo Thunder in New Mexico. She loved reading, bowling, fishing, and snowmobiling.

Helen had a lot of spunk and was ready to try anything. She loved and was loved and she will be missed so much.

Helen is survived by daughter Joyce Levine and her husband Jerry; daughter Tricia Elwyn; her son Charles A. Elwyn Jr. and his wife Wendy; grandchildren: Tom Kraus, Adam Levine, Charles Elwyn, Cheri Nowak and Tara O’Gorman; great-grandchildren: Kirstie, Courtney, Nicole, Thomas, April, Aidan, Beau, Sophia and Giovanna.

She was predeceased by her sisters: Agnes and Marie, her brother Edwin and by her first granddaughter Joy.

Family and friends can share their memories and sign the online guestbook at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com.