Helen M. Moran
GENEVA- Helen Marie (Ferris) Moran, age 90, died on October 25, 2016 at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Worcester, MA. Helen was born on December 5, 1925 to Helen Hanrahan and Frederick Ferris in Geneva, NY, the youngest of 3 children.

Calling hours will be on Sunday, Oct. 30th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at McGuigan & Bero Funeral Home, 45 High St., Geneva, NY. The funeral will be held at St. Stephen’s RC Church, Pulteney St., Geneva, NY on Monday, Oct. 31st at 10 a.m. with internment at St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations to the Geneva Public Library would be appreciated.

Helen was a 1943 graduate of De Sales High School. Following graduation, she began working in the commissary at Sampson Naval Training Base, Romulus, NY where thousands of troops were being trained to serve in World War II. During this time she completed training as a volunteer junior hostess with the Geneva USO. There she participated in planning and attending weekend social events to provide a break for the troops. In January 1944 Helen took a position as a technician in the Food Science & Technology Dept. at the NYS Experiment Station. There, she worked on dehydration processes for military provisions and early freezing techniques for preserving fruits.

She loved cars and travel with friends and family. She saved for three years to buy a car while planning a trip to visit her best friend, Mary Jane and sister Kay Moran in California in 1944. Helen and her sister Jane, her mother and a friend traveled west on Route 66, with side trips to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley along the way.

Helen’s friendship with Mary Jane led to her meeting her future husband, Mary Jane’s brother – Harry F. Moran, Jr. of Geneva. They were married on April 17, 1950 at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church. They had two children, Sue and Tom. Helen was a devoted mother who stayed home to raise her children, returning to the workforce in the mid-1960’s at the Geneva Board of Education.

She took every opportunity to travel with family to the southeast and the mid-western US and to Canada. Later, she traveled with her husband to England, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Ireland where she developed an interest in learning about her family roots.

Helen became an avid genealogist, doing research at Ontario and Seneca County Archives, Mormon Family History Center, Geneva Historical Society and in New England and Canada. She and Sue developed extensive information on the Moran and Ferris family history. This culminated in a trip to Ireland where she met relatives discovered through her research.

Following the death of her husband in 1990, Helen began traveling with her two children to Jamaica, Barbados, Mexico, Panama, Curacao, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Belize, Grenada, Trinidad, Tobago and Ecuador. She developed a passion for hiking and for exploring the Amazon and cloud rainforests. She enjoyed the beaches and unique countrysides and loved to sample local cuisines.

Her lifelong love of cars caused her to buy a black Ford Mustang GT with racing stripes, and a “five-on-the-floor” manual transmission while in her early 80’s. She enjoyed spirited rides around the Finger Lakes in this car with her family and friends.

Helen relocated to Shrewsbury Crossings assisted living facility in Shrewsbury, MA near her daughter at age 88. She continued to be active in her new community, in exercise classes, enjoying time with new friends, contributing to genealogy work and working on a project with Sue and the residents and Program Director at the assisted living facility to honor veterans using the www.wwiimemorial.com website.

Helen knew how to live life to the fullest and leave her mark. She will be sadly missed by her family: daughter Sue of Connecticut, son Tom and wife Carilee of Michigan, granddaughter Dr. Amy Moran Wachoviak and husband Ryan of Wisconsin, her sister-in-law Kay Samuell and brother-in-law Ed Samuell, of Texas, as well as by many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by many long-time friends including: John Juliano of Connecticut, Carmie Alexander and family, Germaine Liberatore, Allie Van Gordon, Bill and Donna Hirons, Lottie Angelo, Joan Doeblin and Deanne McClellan-Tuck all of Geneva.

She was pre-deceased by her husband of 40 years, Harry F. Moran, Jr., her brother Fred and wife Virginia (Beaudry) Ferris of Dearborn, Michigan, sister Jane and brother-in-law William Gallipeau of Seneca Castle, sister-in-law Joanne (Moran) Vandemortel Venturino of Geneva and brother-in law Tom Moran and wife Joan (Dixon) of Turnerville, NJ and Sister-in-law & brother-in-law, Mary Jane and Gene Donahue of St. Louis, MO.