Marlborough – Wendy M. Walaski Babson, 41, a resident of Marlborough since 1997, died at her home Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011.
Born in Ft. Belvoir, Va., she was the daughter of Stephen and Eileen (Ropelewski) Walaski of Saranac Lake, N.Y., and the wife of Randy Babson of Marlborough. Raised in Saranac Lake, N.Y., she attended St. Bernard's School and Saranac Lake Middle School, where she made lifelong friendships.
She attended North Country Community College and later transferred to Holyoke Community College, where she earned an Associate's Degree. She continued her education at UMass Amherst, where she received dual Bachelor degrees and was a member of Iota Gamma Upsilon Sorority. It was during her Political Science class that she met her husband Randy, and they were married in 1996.
Following graduation, Mrs. Babson began working for Aetna Lighting Company. She then went to work for Natural Intelligence as an executive assistant, soon becoming Human Resources Director. Through corporate acquisitions she also worked in Human Resources for Snyder Communications. In 2004, she began working for the Commonwealth of MA Department of Career Services, where she managed the One-Stop Career Center in Marlborough until 2008.
Throughout their 20 years together, Mrs. Babson and her husband were able to enjoy their mutual interests in boating and travel. They visited Venezuela, numerous Caribbean islands, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France and England, as well as Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. They also shared numerous boat trips with their family and friends to Lake Powell, the Rideau Canal, the Erie Canal and Chesapeake Bay.
In June 2008, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After completing initial treatment, and knowing personally how devastating cancer can be to families, she volunteered for the American Cancer Society by driving patients to their appointments through the Road to Recovery program. In June 2010, her cancer returned and she received care and treatment for the next year and a half from the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff of the gynecologic oncology team at UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester.
Besides her husband and her parents, she is survived by her brother, David Walaski and his wife Heidi of Madison, Wis.; her grandmother, Wilma Ropelewski of Easthampton, with whom she lived during her college years, and Ciocia. She is also survived by her nephew, Steven Walaski; her father-in-law, Alfred Babson Jr. of Hyde Park; her mother-in-law, Barbara Castanheira of Peabody; several aunts, uncles and many cousins, as well as her rescue dog, Snickers. She was also the granddaughter of the late Chester J. Ropelewski.
Funeral services were held Jan. 2 at the Slattery Funeral Home, Inc. of Marlborough. Memorial donations may be made to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition at www.ovarian.org.
