Helen S. Cawood, 86, of Middlebury passed away late Wednesday evening, February 27, 2013 at East View Terrace in Middlebury. Born on March 1, 1926 in Providence, Rhode Island , she was the daughter of the late Robert P. and Helen (Lennox) Swan. On January 16, 1954 she married W. Gordon Cawood in Brooklyn, NY. A 1947 graduate of Middlebury College with a Masters Degree in foreign languages, Helen held teaching positions in German studies at UCLA, CA and Wells College. In addition she did secretarial work involving the German correspondence at Swiss Bank in NY and at Wellesley College in MA. Helen loved the outdoors, she enjoyed hiking, mountain climbing, cross country skiing, bicycling and snow shoeing. She was an avid reader and a cross word puzzle expert. She enjoyed traveling with Gordon and making trips to Baltimore to the Peabody Institute. She was a member of the League of Women Voters and the Womens Club of Middlebury. She was a member of the Green Mountain Club, the Adirondack Mountain Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club and Toastmasters. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, W. Gordon Cawood, her daughter Pamela C. Rizzo and her husband Christopher of Wilmington Delaware and her son Jeffrey R. Cawood of Foxborough, MA. She is survived by two grandsons, Ian and Kyle Emerson of Wilmington, Delaware. She was predeceased by her parents Robert and Helen Swan . A memorial service will be held on March 9, 2013 at 2 P.M. at the East View at Middlebury Community Room, with Chaplin Arthur Cohn, officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, attention Donor Services, P.O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX . 75265-0309 Arrangements are entrusted to Sanderson-Ducharme Funeral Home, 117 South Main St., Middlebury. Online condolences may be made at www.sandersonfuneralservice.com