Helen Mary Barnes

Helen Mary (Kawalko) Barnes passed peacefully Thursday, December 24, 2020 at the age of 93. She was born on March 18, 1927 to John and Mary (Sivic) Kawalko in Yonkers, New York, as the third of four children. Mary, her mother, immigrated from Austria-Hungary to the United States as a teenager in 1913.

Helen remained in the Yonkers area where she graduated Yonkers High School of Commerce in 1945 and worked for the World Book Company as an IBM supervisor for 15 years. It was at work that she met her husband, Paul J. Barnes, whom she married October 26, 1957. They lived in the Yonkers area until 1965, when they moved to Bowie, Maryland. On December of 1967, Helen gave birth to her only child, Helen A. Barnes. As her husband worked for the Department of Defense, Helen became a stay-at-home mom to raise her daughter. In her free time, Helen enjoyed crocheting, bingo, and card games.

After a happy marriage of 30 years, Paul passed in March of 1988. Helen would remain in Bowie for the next 32 years. In 2010, she moved to Florida with her brother Peter to be closer to her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. It was in Florida that Helen took her final breaths before going home to be with Jesus.

In addition to her parents and her husband, Helen was preceded in death by her siblings, Anna, Peter, and Dorothy. She is survived by her daughter, Helen A. Austin (Scott), and her granddaughter, Delaney Austin.

Helen was a member of Sacred Heart Church in Bowie, Maryland for over 45 years and is to be laid to rest at the cemetery at Sacred Heart Chapel beside her loving husband, Paul, in a private ceremony on January 6, 2021 at 2pm.