Helen Sellew

Helen T. Sellew, age 92, a lifelong Natick resident and owner of the Fairway Sports World of Natick.  She was the daughter of the late George P. Sellew, Sr. and Helen (Burns) Sellew of Natick.  Helen was predeceased by her brother, George P. Sellew, Jr.  She was the loving aunt of Anita Mamoun and her husband Eddy of Boca Raton, Florida; Karen Craig and her partner Philip Phillips of Charlton; Helen Miller (and her late husband Alan Miller) of Ponce Inlet, Florida; Mary Kelleher and her husband Richard of Holliston; George M. Sellew and his wife Rita of Ponce Inlet, Florida; and the great aunt of Kristen Kelleher, Richard Kelleher, George F. Sellew, Laura Sellew, and John Sellew. 

Helen graduated from Natick High School in 1944 and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1948 with a degree in Animal Husbandry.  After graduation, she worked as an agent for 4-H Clubs with the Middlesex County Extension Service.  In 1953, with her brother, George, Helen founded Fairway Sports World, a sports and recreation complex that included a golf driving range, 32 candlepin bowling lanes, a pitch and putt course, a mini-golf course, a summer day camp, and a family pool and tennis club. Many will fondly remember the elaborate holiday wonderland Helen and her friends created at “the Fairway”.

Helen was an active and engaged member of the Natick community. She served on the Natick School Committee for twelve years, including two years as Chairperson. She also served as Chairperson of the Natick Heart Fund Committee, President of the Massachusetts Ladies of Charity, member of the South Middlesex Board of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and Director of the Massachusetts State Bowling Championships and the Massachusetts Bowling Instructors School. Teaching candlepin bowling to young and old was one of her passions and she was an enthusiastic instructor and advocate of the sport.  Helen was an active parishioner of St. Zepherin Church in Wayland for over fifty years.

Helen received numerous honors and awards. Most recently, in 2016, she was honored by METCO for being the first female school committee member to bring METCO to the schools.  She was named Metrowest Woman of the Year in 1997 and Natick Senior Woman of the Year in 2011.  In 1978, she was inducted into the International Candlepin Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.

Helen was an avid golfer and won numerous tournaments throughout her life.  She was a member of the Framingham Country Club for over forty years and the FCC  Women’s Club Champion in 1979 and 1988. Helen loved nature and animals and enjoyed long walks in the woods with her German Shepherds and time spent with her two Maine Coon cats. Helen loved to entertain and enjoyed many happy moments in her home by the hearth and in her game room, where family and friends would gather to play pool and ping pong, and listen to her stories about life growing up on the farm, her adventures traveling across the country, her excursions with her nieces and nephew, and the people she loved at “The Fairway”.  Helen will always be remembered for her strong faith, her generosity, her great sense of humor, and her beautiful smile.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Helen’s name can be made to: MSPCA-Angell, Attn:  Donations, 350 South Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02130 or Special Olympics Massachusetts
512 Forest St., Marlborough, MA 01752.  
 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, July 1 at 10:30am in St.Zepherin Church,99 Main Street, Wayland, MA.  Interment in St. Patrick Cemetery. 

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