Helen K. Mattraw, 88, Washington St., Watertown, died Thursday evening, August 9, 2012, at Samaritan Keep Home.

A memorial service will be held at Cummings Funeral Service, Inc., Watertown on Tuesday, August 14, at 11AM with Rev. Steven Murray, Holy Family Church, officiating. Burial will be at the convenience of the family in Glenwood Cemetery. The family will be receiving friends at the Watertown Elks Lodge immediatly following the service.

Mrs. Mattraw was born in Watertown on July 13, 1924, daughter of Clarence and Julia Campbell Burkhard. She graduated from Immaculate Heart Academy in 1941 and from Mercy School of Nursing in 1945, receiving her RN degree.

On January 26, 1946 she married Gordon E. Mattraw in the rectory of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church.

Helen worked as an RN for Drs. James Crossley and Warren Daub, OBGYN, retiring in 1980. She was a communicant of Holy Family Church and a member of the Mercy Alumni Assoc. Her primary enjoyment was her family and grandchildren, and she also enjoyed bowling and knitting. Helen was best known for her great sense of humor, her love of her family, and her wonderful cooking.

Besides her husband, Gordon E. Mattraw, Sr., she is survived by her four children, Gordon E. Jr. and wife, Patricia, Watertown, Gail E. Mattraw, Hermon, Gary E. and wife, Kimberlee M., Chaumont, and Ginny E. Arney and husband, Frank W. Jr., Watertown; six grandchildren, Sarah Tanner and husband, Donovan, Geoffrey, Rachel, and Ariana Mattraw, and Stephanie and Stacie Arney; one great granddaughter, Emerson Tanner; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Both her brother, James Burkhard, and her sister, M. Frances Knapp, died in 2000.

In lieu of flowers the family wishes donations in her name to either Alzheimer’s Assoc., 441 W. Kirkpatrick St., Syracuse, NY 13204 or the IHC Scholarship Fund, 1316 Ives St., Watertown, NY 13601.

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