Helen Marie Syverud

Helen Marie (Canfield) Syverud, 95, of Foxborough, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on October 26, 2025, at Madonna Manor Nursing Home in North Attleborough.

Born in New Milford, Pennsylvania, daughter of the late Earl and Edith Canfield, Helen had lived with her daughter in Foxborough since 2017. She grew up on a farm during the Great Depression and often credited her longevity to being "a farm girl." She shared her father's love of nature, and once famously fed a bear in the wild while her brother snapped Polaroids.

Helen was proud of her 1957 testimony before the McClellan Senate Hearings where she testified about labor violence in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Later, she earned her Associate Degree in Nursing, Summa Cum Laude, from Bridgeport University in 1983 and practiced until her retirement in 2000.

Creative and determined, she made intricate Norwegian sweaters and needlepoint nature scenes. Fiercely independent and outspoken, she was known for saying ," when women's rights were threatened, "Well then, I guess there's going to be a lot of dead men".

Predeceased by her husband, Fred Syverud, Helen is survived by her daughter Jeanne, son John, grandchildren Julie Whittemore and Peter Titcomb, Jr., great-grandchildren Peter III and Lillian, as well as siblings Cecil, Bert, Paulette, and Drusilla.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ASPCA. The family thanks Hope Health Hospice and Madonna Manor for their compassionate care.

The wake will be held at Roberts and Sons Funeral Home, November 3, 5-7 p.m.