Helen Was Atlantic Highlands

Helen

There will be a viewing from4 to 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25 at Posten-McGinley’s Funeral Home, E. Lincoln Avenue for Helen M Marchetti, former Mayor of Atlantic Highlands, who died Tuesday at Care One at Middletown.

But already stories of Helen’s dedication and love for her Atlantic Highlands birthplace and the people who have made it so happy for the 98-year-old native are pouring in. Many express grief at the passing of such a matriarch, others wanting to share stories of how she impacted their lives.

Helen was born in the house at 99 Center Avenue where she lived almost all of her life. “Yep, right upstairs, in the bedroom,” she would tell everyone who asked how long she lived there.

Then she would launch into stories about how wonderful her parents were, her father, the milkman for Atlantic Highlands who had to go to Long Branch every morning to get the milk and deliver it around town, and her mother, sweet, prayerful and perfect. She would tell stories of her brother John and her two nieces and nephew and their families, and photos in her front porch room at Center Avenue reflected their love for her, as she was always surrounded by photos of each generation of their families.

There are those recalling this week how they would drive past the Center Avenue front porch of Helen’s home, see her sitting in her favorite chair watching TV, and wave to her. Or the dog walkers, who knew how she loved seeing the animals go by or running to get around the corner and get a dog biscuit from the jar kept for them next to the garage.’

There will be many stories to hear about Helen’s years on the Borough Council, her years as Mayor, and all the other positions she has held through the years.

It was always a job she took on simply to keep Atlantic Highlands the perfect place she always felt it was. Helen loved working with anyone and everyone who would assure her they loved the town as much as she did. There are those who remember, with laughter and glee, the times she would tell anyone who complained about her town….”You don’t like it? See that highway up there? You can take it in either direction.”

She was a hard worker in whatever post she held. And she held many., She was on the Board of Education for many years, then was its president. She was active in the Lions Club.   She was in the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society, and then its president.

She loved the history of her town and was so happy she had lived through so many years of it. She was active in the Lions Club, she served on the Harbor Commission. She was in the Fire Department auxiliary. If it did something to help Atlantic Highlands, Helen Marchetti was always ready to do it.

Helen loved her membership in the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. She loved her Friday night dinners there for so many years, and being surrounded by friends in the club, not only from Atlantic Highlands but from every town from where the members came. She loved showing newcomers the beauty of the harbor and how all the good things the Yacht Club contributed to making the borough such a welcoming place for sailors from all over the world.

Helen loved children, and Halloween was guaranteed to bring crowds to her front door, to be greeted by a happy lady who wanted to shower the costumed visitors with dozens of candy bars and her own thanks for making her night so happy by their visit.

She loved her church, and the choir at St. Agnes, and their Christmas concert after parties she hosted at her home, so happy to hear the spiritual hymns of the holy day blend with the spirits of the holiday.

She loved all her neighbors, but if she had to admit it, those three youngsters next door were the delight of her life. Whenever they were away, they sent her cards and rushed home to tell her of their excitement. When they got a new puppy, it was Miss Helen they wanted to share their happiness with. When they had guests for a barbecue, it was Miss Helen they wanted to share in the company, fun and festivities. And in her last days at King James, it was their visits, their drawings on the wall, their special talks with her, that she treasured so much. They shed tearful goodbyes with her at her passing.

There were the close friends, the wonderful people who knew Helen through her work on any of a dozen or more things in which she was always involved. There were the Sunday morning church people who waved as they parked their cars across from her house, There were the mail people, the delivery people, the sanitation workers, everybody who spent a minute, an hour, a day or a passing with Helen. They all brought her happiness and she bragged about it to others.

During her months at Care One, Helen endeared herself as much to the other residents, staff and every employee as she always had to everyone in Atlantic Highlands. At her passing, these dedicated workers, some of whom had only known her since she lived there, stopped back her room to say their final goodbyes, share their favorite memories, and share reflect on how their own lives were impacted by the woman who gave her life to others.

Then there were the police. No one dare say anything against a police officer, a volunteer fire fighter or a first aid volunteer in front of Helen. Clearly, they were the best, and if they could do no wrong, “well, that wouldn’t be possible. They wouldn’t be part of Atlantic Highlands.”

Helen Marchetti was not only born in Atlantic Highlands. Not only served it so well in so many ways. Not only spoke of the generations before her, the joys of growing up here, her years at Red Bank Catholic taking the bus past her house, not only looked towards its future, but always knew, Atlantic Highlands was home, and nothing could be better.

The truth of the matter is…Helen Mount Marchetti truly was Atlantic Highlands.

A Thank You From Helen

Thank You