Helen M. Zalewski

Helen Maureen (Holmes) Zalewski, beloved, mother, grandmother and sister, passed away on February 25, 2025, surrounded by her loving family after a long and wonderful life. Born on May 30, 1931, to David and Mildred Holmes in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Helen came with her family to Toledo, Ohio in 1947, following WWII. Helen would graduate from the Notre Dame Academy on Bancroft St. in 1949 followed by study at the University of Toledo. Helen joined Ohio Bell and worked there for the next ten years. This enabled mom to travel to Europe and see Ireland, Paris, Holland and Rome. Helen met Edward Zalewski through family friends and fell in love, they were married on October 29, 1960. She left Ohio Bell in 1962 to give birth and raise two children; John and Karen. Helen reentered the workplace as a teacher’s aide in 1974, with the Toledo Public Schools. She later became a math aide, following study at the University of Toledo. Helen ended her career as a teacher’s aide who worked with special needs children at Start High School, where she retired in June of 1996. Helen loved spending time with her grandchildren. She loved cooking, collecting cookbooks and glass paperweights, listening to anything written by Irving Berlin, and her lifelong love of Notre Dame football. She was able to be with her namesake granddaughter Maureen, on October 14, 2023, for her granddaughter’s wedding. Helen is survived by her loving children, John Zalewski, Karen (Larry) Hack; grandchildren, Maureen (Chase) Dusseau and Christopher Hack; her brother, Edward (Teddy) Holmes and many nieces and nephews. Helen is preceded in death by husband, Edward in 2009; mother, Mildred; father, David; and brother, David. Family and friends are invited to visit at St. Pius X Church, 3011 Carskaddon Ave., on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, from 9:00am – 10:00am where Mass of the Resurrection will begin at 10:00am. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery. If you wish to remember Helen, in lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to Notre Dame Academy, Hospice of Northwest Ohio, and St. Pius X. ''I'll be loving you, always, with a heart that's true, always. Not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but always!'' lrving Berlin

Helen M. Zalewski

May 30, 1931 - February 25, 2025