Westborough – Helen Constance (Papoojian) Welcher, 94, of Westborough and formerly of Danvers, passed away peacefully Friday, May 4, 2018 in the Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Westborough. She was the wife of Ray Eugene Welcher.
Born in Fitchburg, she was a daughter of the late Hagop and Marion (Kazanjian) Papoojian and was a graduate of Fitchburg High School Class of 1941. She then attended Stevens Business College and took courses at the American University in Washington D.C.
During WWII, she traveled to Washington, D.C. and served as secretary to General Omar Bradley, General J. Lawton Collins, and General Bill DePuy.
After the war, she was a secretary to Brigadier General Charles F. Colson, Commanding General of Fort Devens. Once becoming married, she devoted herself to her family and worked part time as a secretary.
Helen was a communicant of St. Mary the Annunciation Church in Danvers and Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church in Belmont.
She enjoyed traveling, reading, sewing and had a passion for fine arts. Music was a large part of her life and in her younger years, she served on the Board of the Essex County Community Concert Association. She was a violinist in the Tri-Town Orchestra on the North Shore of Boston.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her three sons, Ray Willis and his wife Cathy of St. John, Ind., Curtis and his wife Cheryl of Westborough, and Charles of Davie, Fla.; and six grandchildren, Kimberly, Alex, Philip, Andrew, Jessica, and Nara. She is predeceased by her siblings, Reginia M. Palmieri and Philip J. Papoojian.
Her funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, May 9, at 10:30 a.m., in St. Luke the Evangelist Church, 70 West Main St., Westborough. Burial will follow in St. Luke’s Cemetery. A calling hour will be held from 9-10 a.m. prior to her funeral Mass in the Pickering & Son Westborough Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., Westborough.
Helen’s family would like to extend a sincere gratitude to all the staff at the Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Westborough for the excellent care she received during her time there.
