Helene M. Cashin

With profound sadness, we announce the passing of Helene Marie Cashin (Boucher) of Manchester, NH, after 81 years of a rich and giving life. She was full of song and love of her family until she passed peacefully after a period of declining health on June 6, 2023.

Helene was born in Barre, VT, to the late Maurice Boucher of Montreal, Canada and Anna Dessureau Boucher, ultimately settling in Manchester in the late 1940s. Life wasn’t always easy, but she and her 8 sisters and brothers found many ways to enjoy it. Music was often present as one of her siblings was a gifted pianist and Helene, with her playful spirit and beautiful voice, loved to sing and dance. With her siblings she engaged in lots of creative play and mischief, hard work such as looking after the goats and chickens, and cooking with her mother.

In her early 20s Helene lived in New York City, working as a proofreader for the advertising agency BBDO. Upon returning to New Hampshire, Helene met and married Bob Cashin and together they raised their two daughters Renee and Julie. Helene worked as the property manager of the Boucher family’s real estate business, relying on her strong work ethic and creative skills to paint, wallpaper, and repair anything and everything to keep things looking fresh. Her love of flowers and gardening shone through as she planted flowers anywhere possible each spring. She also had a flair for fashion and when her daughter Renee and son-in-law Brian bought a retail shop she stepped right up to work in the shop and created trend setting window displays. She was often caught saying “I can do anything if I put my mind to it, and so can you!”

Helene loved to play games, do puzzles, and read books. Scrabble was her favorite and though she knew all of the obscure short words, she kept a dictionary nearby in case she needed to challenge her opponent. Books were her true companion – she was a speed reader and kept a book or two in her purse at all times. She also loved to travel. To the Caribbean to feed her love of the ocean, to Florida and Canada to visit family, local drives with her sisters to soak in the foliage, and to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit her daughter Julie and her grandchildren. While Helene was always up on pop culture, she also loved to watch old movies, and sing songs from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. She shared her love of entertainment with her children and at one point joined a performing arts group. She played lots of doubles tennis and enjoyed many long walks with friends. The beach was her favorite place to be especially if it involved a trip to the lobster pound. With her high energy and free spirit, Helene loved to have a good time and bring everyone along with her, occasionally enjoying a margarita along the way. Later in life Helene served as a caregiver to seniors and took up antiquing where she used her keen eye to find diamonds in the rough, restore, and resell them. It was while antiquing that she met Bill Gardzina, her companion late in life who stayed by her side as a loyal friend through her final days.

Most of all Helene was a devoted daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. She always put her family first and would go above and beyond to make sure everyone’s needs were met, over her own. Helene was a ray of sunshine and will be remembered fondly by many.

Helene is predeceased by her sisters, Juliette Kochanowsky, Pauline Boucher, Jacqueline Charland, and Marie Claire Boucher Bowers; her brothers, Robert Norman Boucher and Phillip Boucher; and her former husband, Edward Robert “Bob” Cashin.

Helene is survived by her sister, Diane Boucher of Nashua, NH and her brother, Charles Boucher of Florida. She is also survived by her daughter, Renee Fortin and her husband Brian Fortin of Sanbornton, NH; their children, Kyle of Medford, MA, and Mitchel of San Clemente, CA; and her daughter Julia Cashin and her husband Justin Oberbaue; and their children, Blake and Reed of Tiburon, CA. Additionally, Helene is survived by many nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, June 13^th from 5:30pm – 6:30pm at The Phaneuf Funeral Home & Crematorium, 243 Hanover Street in Manchester. A funeral service will follow at 6:30pm in the funeral home. Family and friends are kindly invited to attend and enjoy refreshments in the funeral home café during services.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Helene’s honor to the Alzheimer’s Association.