Helen T. (Trapasso) Harrison

GREENVILLE- Helen Theresa Harrison formerly of Charleston Jefferson Twp. passed away peacefully on Wednesday morning November 8, 2017 at The Villas at St. Paul Homes following a period of declining health.  She was ninety-two years old.

Helen was born on April 11, 1925 to Joseph and Merle (Hassel) Trapasso.  She was an honor student and graduated from Hickory High School in 1942 and a graduate of the former Shenango Valley Commercial Institute.  She was employed by the Sharon Transformer Division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation as a stenographer and secretary retiring in 1983 with forty-years of service and was a member of the Westinghouse Retirees Association.

Helen was a lifelong member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Mercer, charter member of the Mercer County Historical Society as well the Mercer County Genealogical Society.  She was a member at large of the National Society, Daughters of the American Colonist, and an organizing and charter member of the former Matthias Zahniser Chapter Daughters of the American Colonist where she served as treasurer for thirty-five years. She served as director and corresponding secretary of the Zahniser Foundation for forty-years, member of the Hickory Hill Cemetery Association and had been instrumental in overseeing the cemetery restoration.

She was a member of the Jefferson Twp. Civic League and in 2001 was inducted into the Mercer County and Pennsylvania Voter Halls of Fame for having voted in General Elections for fifty consecutive years. Helen also enjoyed gardening, flower arranging of both fresh and dried, and needlepoint

She is survived by her brother Joseph Paul Trapasso and his wife Gloria of St. Paul’s Greenville; nephew John J. Trapasso and his wife Debra of Greensburg; great-niece Jennifer R. Laughlin and her husband Michael of Greensburg; two great-nephews John R. Trapasso and his wife Megan of Apex, North Carolina and Joseph P. Trapasso and his wife Nicole of San Jose, California; two great-great-nieces and two great-great-nephews.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-four years Gordon W. Harrison who passed away on December 25, 2010, a brother John Salvatore Hassel Trapasso, and her parents.

Per Helen’s request, a private service officiated by Rev. Dr. William Crooks, retired pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Mercer will be held at the Sample-O’Donnell Funeral Home 555 East State Street in Sharon, PA 16146.  Burial will follow at America’s Cemetery.