Helen W. Goolishian, FP71

Sad news from East Dennis – Helen W. Goolishian, FP71

Professor Helen Wade Goolishian, Ed.D., 76, died January 8, 2012 at her home surrounded by her family. She was the beloved wife of Gregory A. Goolishian, Sr. and mother of Wade Goolishian, MD and Gregory A. Goolishian, Jr., Cmdr. USN (Ret).

She was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts and moved with her husband to East Dennis, MA in 1960. In addition to her husband and sons, she leaves two sisters, Maryanne Smithers and Louanne Roach, two daughters-in law, Tracy Goolishian and Susan Goolishian, a stepdaughter, Pam Taylor, a stepson-in-law, Bill Taylor, an “adopted” daughter, Anne Gormley Dawes and her husband Nigel Dawes, five grandchildren, Andrew, Sarah, Riley, Kenneth, and Patricia, as well as many nephews and nieces.

Dr. Goolishian attended the Cape Cod Community College, Mount Holyoke College, and received her Masters and Doctorate from the University Of Massachusetts. She was a professor of Psychology at the Cape Cod Community College for over 25 years, until her retirement in 2002 when she was awarded a Professor Emerita of the college.

She was instrumental in developing the Early Childhood Education Program and the Women In Transition program at the college and served as the faculty advisor to that program.

As a Fulbright scholar to China, she researched women’s social programs under socialist, communist, and capitalist systems and lectured in Great Britain and Russia on the need to educate non-traditional age women for the workforce. She was a delegate to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995.

She was a past president of the Mount Holyoke Club of Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Community College Faculty Union.

Dr. Goolishian was also a former ballroom dancing instructor for Arthur Murray in Boston, a violinist with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, and an avid bridge player. She will be remembered by her family, friends, colleagues, and her many students with love and gratitude for the inspiration she was to us all. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Dr. Helen W. Goolishian scholarship fund for Women In Transition at the Cape Cod Community College.

Published in the Republican from January 10 to January 12, 2012

For more on Helen, here’s a nice article from the Cape Cod Times, written in 1999.

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