BOCA RATON — Helen Marie Bates Babione, with her husband a pioneer of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, died Oct. 5. She was 95.
Helen Bates moved to Lake Worth from Ohio in 1948 and in 1950 married Robert Babione. They moved to Boca Raton in 1960, where they opened Babione Funeral Home and became active members in the community.
Helen and Robert joined St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, where they were among the pioneer families that helped grow the church and school into the beautiful sanctuary and campus they are today. As a devoted parishioner for 50-plus years, she was surrounded by her many friends and family for her 90th birthday party in the church’s Mercy Center in March 2019.
Mrs. Babione was preceded in death by her beloved husband in 2004, as well as by her daughter Mary Veccia, son Robert Babione Jr. and his wife, Sue Babione, son-in-law Mike Haggerty, and grandson Brian Veccia.
She was a compassionate, generous and kind woman who loved helping others and bringing people together. She was an advocate for women and children her whole life, encouraging everyone to stay happy and healthy.
She leaves her family with many fond memories. She is survived by daughters Kathryn (Mark) Rogers, Phyllis Haggerty, Ashley (Tim) Glick and Jean (Bill) Giffin; son Paul Babione; and son-in-law Joe (Damiana) Veccia. She was blessed with 11 grandchildren: Tiffany (Don), Kimberly (Nick), Jennifer, Pamela (Seth), Robert (Stefanie), Cindy (Daryl), Alyson (Fergus), Kaitlyn (Marcello), Jonathan (Rachel), Laura and Trevor. Along came 13 great-grandchildren: Kade and Quinn FitzHenry; Madelyn and Abigail Veccia, and their mother, Jaime; Alexis and Savanna Babione; Kyle Smith; Bruno, Amelia and Clara Amsalem; Georgiana and Zinnia Keatinge; Liliana Barioli; also many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Mrs. Babione was very proud of her work on the “Honor Your Doctor” annual luncheon organized by the Downtown Rotary Club. The Soroptimist Club, which she started in Boca Raton, was also dear to her heart. And she was a donor to the growth of Boca Raton Regional Hospital (she co-chaired an annual Go Pink luncheon), as well as a life member of the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League.
She was a founding member of the Society for the Disabled in 1960 and from that the Twin Palms Center for the Disabled and the Habilitation Center of Boca Raton were started. She supported the work of American Association of Caregiving Youth; she was also involved with the Downtown Kiwanis and Key Club work.
The Babiones received many honors over the years for their community service, including the “Heartland Award” presented by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles and the “Family of the Year” award from the Florida Knights of Columbus.
Most recently, she received a beautiful figurine from St. Joan of Arc Church for her faithfulness and love of Jesus.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Oct. 14 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church followed by interment at Boca Raton Cemetery.
At Helen’s wish, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made at glickfamilyfuneralhome.com/obituary/Helen-Babione#donations. The funds will then be distributed by the family to many of Helen’s most beloved charities.
— Obituary submitted by the family
Comments