Obituary of Helena Blazena Figiel
Helena Blazena Figiel, 99 of Boonton, NJ, passed away peacefully at home on Monday, February 5, 2024.
Helena was born in May 1924 to Stephen and Maria (Savoltova) Kratky in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. She immigrated to the United States after WWII and shortly after married Francis J. Figiel. Helena and Francis lived in Riverside, NJ for a short time before moving to Boonton, NJ in 1959. Helena lived in Boonton in the same house for the next 65 years.
Helena wore many hats over the years - she was a retail sales clerk, seamstress, waitress, cake decorator and bank associate. The epitome of a working mom when it was not a popular title. And if that was not enough, she and her husband fostered 2 young girls, Esperanza and Estela, who came to the U.S. from Cuba. To this day, they have remained in touch with her. She was a loving wife and mother who adored her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
While caring for her husband during the last years of his life, Helena took up watercolor painting lessons offered during the evening at the local school. She continued taking lessons at the community college and The Kubert School in Dover. She found joy and solace in her work. The art pieces she left behind are only one reminder of the incredible talent she harbored.
Helena was also a devout Catholic and parishioner at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church, If there was something that needed to be done, she never hesitated to volunteer, be it cleaning, setting up for services, caring for the flowers and even refurbishing many of the statues.
Finding themselves here without her are her daughters, Marta Pascarella and her husband, Nicholas of Boonton Township; and Mary Figiel-Hemenetz and her husband, Mark of Wayne; her foster daughters, Espernza and Estela; her five grandchildren, Eric, Michelle, Lauren, Leslie, and Luke; and twelve great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, February 8th at 10:00am in Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church, with interment following in the parish cemetery. Friends are welcome to visit with the family beginning at 9:30am in the church.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Helena’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the St. Labre Indian School would be most appreciated. Services were provided by Codey & Mackey Funeral Home of Boonton. To share a condolence with the family, please visit CodeyMackeyFH.com.