JOAN P. HELLMUTH

Our heartfelt sympathies. A lovely lady.
Charlene and Manny Leitao

In 2007, Joan joined a group of parishioners from St. Mary´s Episcopal Church in Newton Lower Falls and St. Paul´s Episcopal Church in Natick (her church at the time) on a week-long mission trip to El Salvador and to our sister parish Santa Maria Vergen in San Salvador. It is easy to recall the year of our trip because whenever the issue of her age came up, she would break into "76 trombones!" Joan was a pistol! She was old enough to be a mother or possibly a grandmother to many on our team and fretted that by coming on the trip she might have taken a seat away from a younger, more productive person. Joan was just delightful and certainly carried her share of the load. We were so thrilled that when she moved to Wellesley, she chose St. Mary´s parish, where she already had friends! That mission trip was a significant milestone in my spiritual journey and I look back on it so fondly because it filled a hole in my soul. And Joan was so important. My wife Mary and I shared other common interests with her. I´m kicking myself that I didn´t find more opportunities to spend time with Joan. Her sense of humor and warmth made being in her company delightful! Tim Green, Wellesley