Windsor Obituary: Helen Gostyla, 97

Helen (Puchkoris) Gostyla, 97, of Bloomfield, beloved wife for 53 years of Bernie Gostyla, passed away on Sunday, July 23, 2017, in West Hartford.

Born on November 20, 1919, daughter of the late Anna and Francis Puchkoris, Helen was a farm girl who was born and brought up on Macktown Road in Windsor. She attended Windsor Public Schools and was a graduate of John Fitch High School.

Helen’s initial employment as a teenager was with Ravalese Tobacco where she sewed the tobacco leaves onto ropes to dry. She enjoyed her employment at The Phoenix Insurance Company and spoke with delight about her time at The Villages for Children & Families in Hartford. Her enthusiasm and joy working with children prepared her for raising her own family.

Bernie and Helen were parishioners of Sacred Heart Church, a Roman Catholic Faith Community in Bloomfield for over 72 years. They gave of their time generously at the church’s Annual Strawberry Festival earning money to build the parochial school at Sacred Heart Church.

Helen loved her role as a housewife and mom taking great pride in raising her children and creating wonderful memories with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She was an avid seamstress, happy to patch pants for Rusty and Ken or to make dresses for Nancy.

Memorable summers were spent with Bernie and the children at an old farmhouse by Garland Pond in Garland, ME and more recently at a camp on Otis Reservoir in Otis, MA where she later enjoyed the addition of grandchildren learning how to water ski. Somehow the days seemed more peaceful when Uncle Ken and Aunt Grace arrived with Hilda and Maureen.

To cherish her memory, she leaves her children, Rusty Gostyla and his wife Frances of Bloomfield, Nancy Gostyla of Fairfax, VT, and Ken Gostyla and his wife Grace Figueredo of Bloomfield; four cherished grandchildren, Heather Fusick and her husband Kevin of NY, NY, Ashley Gostyla of South Boston, MA, Andrew DuPrat and his fiancé Kristina Unikewicz of Essex Junction, VT, and Hannah McGuire and her husband Howard of Pensacola, FL; and several nieces and nephews. Besides her husband Bernie, she was predeceased by two brothers, Tony and Fritz Puchkoris; and a sister, Ruthie Hamilton.

Her family will receive friends on Thursday, July 27, 5-8 p.m., at Sacred Heart Church, 26 Wintonbury Ave., Bloomfield. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated on Friday, July 28, 10 a.m., at Sacred Heart Church, Bloomfield. Burial will follow in Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield.

Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 200 Executive Blvd., Suite 4B, Southington, CT 06489.

Carmon Windsor Funeral Home has care of the arrangements. For online condolences please visit, www.carmonfuneralhome.com.