DOVER - Helen Rayne Vinciguerra left this world to celebrate Christmas with the angels on Dec. 18, 2018.
Helen was born in Berlin, Md. on May 16, 1930 to her parents John Frederick Rayne and Emelyn Smith Rayne. The family moved to Dover when Helen was ten years old and settled on Delaware Ave., the same street on which Helen would live for the next 73 years, until her move to Westminster Village in 2013.
She attended Dover High School, where she met her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Anthony P. Vinciguerra. She and Tony were married on June 10, 1950 and raised seven children together.
The center of Helen's life was her family and her service to God through Holy Cross Parish and the Diocese of Wilmington. She was a member of the Blessed Mary Virgin Sodality, serving a year as prefect and Coordinator of their annual Christmas Bazaar. She acted as principal of the CCD program for several years and was a member of one of Holy Cross's earliest Liturgy Committees.
After Tony's ordination as a Permanent Deacon in 1980, they built a ministry together, creating and running the Ministry of Comfort and Caring, guiding new Catholics into the Church family through the RCIA program and serving on the Diocese of Wilmington's Committee for Discernment for the Permanent Diaconate. Helen also served on the parish Cemetery Committee, helping to raise funds to construct a Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Helen retired twice from positions at Holy Cross, first as the Director of Evangelization and then, as the Coordinator of the Ministry of Comfort and Caring. She was honored for her work in the Church by Bishop Saltarelli, who presented her with the Order of Merit in 2006.
Helen's hobbies included painting and tending her magnificent garden and gold fish pond. Her garden became a sanctuary for family and friends, as well as many varieties of birds, including the occasional heron swooping down to snack on her gold fish.
Helen was preceded in death by her parents, and her beloved husband.
Helen will be held forever in the hearts of her children: three sons and their wives, John and Cheryl (Milford), Michael and Tina (Pennsauken, N.J.), Stephen and Rose (Annapolis Md.); four daughters and their husbands, Mary and Michael Avara (Salisbury Md.), Theresa and Steven Hess (Lewes), Andrea and John Bowman (Dover) and Cecilia and David Moses (Dover); as well as her fifteen grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren. She is cherished forever by her close and loyal friend, and sometimes partner in crime, Betsy Patterson of Dover.
Visitation and prayer service will be held at Trader Funeral Home, Dover, on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018 from 5 to 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Cross Church, Dover on Dec. 27, 2018 at 12 p.m. with visitation one hour prior to the Mass. Interment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Dover.
Letters of condolences may be sent to www.traderfh.com